Life Among the Sea
by warrior's chick
Summary: One Shot Collection, this covers the life of everyone, births, marriages, and even adoptions, events that happened among the Brethren and the life the Sparrow's, Norrington's, Barbossa's, Turner's, and Gillette's
1. Amid Stormy Seas

I in no way shape or form own Pirates of the Caribbean, Thor, or GI Joe

Elizabeth gasped for breath, it hadn't been much of a shock when she had discovered she had been pregnant, not after she had spent the entire day with James as she had, but giving birth in the middle of a storm at sea wasn't her idea of fun. Thankfully after nine months she had gotten things well in hand, she sailed her new domains, managing to get the loyalty of the pirates under her command, part of that was because she learned their languages and customs. She had ordered that the proper funeral rites be preformed for Sao Feng, she might not have gotten along with him very well, but she had respected him, not to mention she knew that Jin needed the closure. She trusted that Matthew and Jin could handle the ship during the storm, Matthew had been a good first mate to her and Jin showed a lot of promise as a pirate, Tai Huang helped then with what they didn't know, but there hadn't been a lot he could teach them in the end they found. A lot of things had changed in the last nine months, Willa and Jack had formally tied the knot and were expecting a child of their own any day now, the same for Barbossa and Jaybird, while Bryce and Belle had gotten married.

The East India Trading Company had been severely damaged when the crimes Beckett had committed became public, crimes his superiors known about and gave their blessing to, they had taken a large hit and it would be decades before they recovered from the blow they had been dealt. Then there had been their venture to the Fountain of Youth, from which they had all drunk from, their crews included, they would sail the seas forever and she found she liked the idea of doing something like that. Though they did have a bit of trouble reaching the fountain, something like the Fountain of Youth would have protections after all, but compared to going to Davy Jones Locker, it wasn't that bad, difficult, yes, but bad, no. Only death would deprive her of the title of Pirate King, which was nice, the Brethren were in good hands with her and they all knew it was best this way, she regularly met up with the others, not to mention she had promised her father to visit him at least once a year on the island. He wasn't happy about her sailing the world and being a pirate, but he understood it was her life, after much argument, and she needed to live it how she wished, not to mention as a Pirate Lord and the Pirate King she didn't have much of a choice, besides this was her choice.

"Ahh," she cried in pain as another contraction hit her, "Almost there, just a couple more pushes," the ships doctor told her, he wouldn't admit this, but he was rather nervous, this was his first time delivering a baby. Elizabeth gritted her teeth and pushed, she was rewarded by the sound of a baby wailing at the top of his lungs, "A son captain," the doctor told her, wrapping the baby in a cloth, Elizabeth sighed in relief, but then yelled in pain, "Somethings wrong," she cried, "I'm still having contractions." "Your having twins captain," the doctor yelped in shock, quickly placing the baby in the cradle, turning his attention back to his captain, this was completely unexpected, thankfully he could already see the second baby's head. "One more good push," he told her, "I can see the head," Elizabeth gritted her teeth and pushed, a moment later the cry of a second baby filled the air, "A daughter captain," the doctor told her, wrapping the child in a spare blanket, he placed her into the cradle with her brother, though it was a bit of a tight fit. He turned his attention to Elizabeth, quickly handling the afterbirth, but Elizabeth was more concerned about her children, she had never expected to have twins, within moment she had forced herself out of the bed and limped over to the cradle to see her children for herself, she smiled softly down at them, stroking their cheeks tenderly. "What will you name them," the doctor asked, Elizabeth frowned, wanting to give them names that would honor both her and James, but also honor Chinese culture, which would be a large part of their lives as they grew up, she smiled as she realized what the perfect comprise would be.

Then the door was thrown open as Jin and Matthew burst into the room, once they were below deck they had heard the sound of babies crying and wanted to see for themselves if it was twins like their ears were telling them. "Twins," Matthew said in shock as Elizabeth nodded, Jin walked over and peered at his siblings, "What are there names," he asked, Elizabeth smiled as she answered, "This is Malcolm Sheng Norrington," she touched her son, before touching her daughter, "And this is Mulan Beth Norrington." "Triumph and victory," Matthew murmured in approval, translating the meaning of their Chinese names, "And magnolia blossom, they are good strong names," Jin smiled down at the babies, both who sported blond hair and sea-green eyes. The doctor slipped away to give the news to the rest of the crew, "I'll send word to the others with the news," Matthew said, going to a desk and pulling out a sheet of paper, quickly writing down the news. He finished quickly, then made five copies, removing a bottle from a desk drawer and slipping one of the rolled up letters into the bottle, before saying who he wanted to send it to, it was something that Willa and Belle had devised to keep in close contact with everyone.

* * *

><p>"Jack I am going to kill you," Willa yelled, they were in the middle of a damn hurricane and the baby had chosen this, of all times, to come into the world, Jack was needed on deck, but if nothing else, the yelling was therapeutic for her. "Ahem," the doctor coughed, "Push," Willa groaned and pushed as the next contraction hit her, she gasped for breath when it ended, both she and the doctor looked up surprised when someone hurried into the room, it was Jack. "I thought you were needed on deck," Willa said surprised, "Aye, but between your father, Gibbs, and Anamaria, they can handle it," Jack told her, walking over to her side, "How are you," "I have been better," Willa said dryly, before whining slightly and grabbing his hand as another contraction hit her. Jack winced in pain, but didn't say anything, he knew nothing good would happen if he said she was crushing his hand, "Easy now," he whispered to her, privately delighted that his child would be born amidst a storm at sea like he and Jaybird had been. Willa grimaced and pushed with the next contraction, her teeth grinding together in an effort to keep from screaming, but was rewarded by a baby's cry, "A girl," the doctor smiled, handing the baby to Jack. "Oh my," he murmured shocked, realizing something very important, "You're having twins Willa," "Wh-aah," Willa screamed as she had another contraction, but a moment later the doctor was holding her second child, "Another girl," he said, handing the baby to Willa, since Jack had his hands full with the other baby.<p>

"What will we name them," Willa asked, "How about we name this one Victoria," Jack suggested looking the baby, who had his mother's red hair, but Willa's pale skin and silver-gray eyes, "I think she's going to be a Storm Eyed One just like you." "She will be," Willa sighed when she saw her eyes, "What about Meredith for this little one," she suggest, the baby had brown-black hair and stunning green eyes that came from her grandmother, "Sounds good," Jack smiled, "We can call them Tora and Merry for short," that made Willa chuckle. They both looked at the desk in their cabin surprised when they heard a horn coming from one of the drawers, Jack handed Tore to Willa and went over and opened the drawer removing a bottle with a letter in it. "Who is it from," Willa asked, adjusting to holding two babies at once, "Its from Matthew," Jack answered reading the letter, "Elizabeth just had her babies as well, it was twins as well, a boy she named Malcolm Sheng and a girl she named Mulan Beth." "That is a little odd, us having our babies on the same night," Willa couldn't help saying, Jack nodded in agreement and went hunting for some paper, he quickly wrote out letters to everyone and sent them off, "At least they'll have playmates there age though."

* * *

><p>"Easy Jaybird," Barbossa told his wife, who had gone into labor during the middle of a storm, "You're doing great," he was completely out of his dept there and that scared the shit out of him, he winced as she squeezed his hand, he thought she broke something. He looked up when he heard a horn sound coming from his desk, "I'll wait until we're done here," he muttered, Jaybird gave a scream which shook him more than he would admit, "Its a boy," the doctor said, then yelped, "Two boys," he corrected himself, somehow managing to juggle both boys, who had been born right on the heels of each other. "Lookie here Jaybird," Barbossa smiled, "Two boys in one go," Jaybird held her sons and glared at Barbossa for that comment, "What will we name them," she asked instead, they were almost identical to each other, with dark auburn hair and brown eyes. "How about Carlos and Andros," Barbossa suggested, his mother had been a Spaniard after all, for all that his father had been an Englishman, in fact his father hadn't been much of a father to begin with, so he knew what <em>not<em> to do when raising children at least. Jaybird frowned as she mulled it over, then she smiled and nodded, "It feels right naming them that," she agreed, "Now go see who wrote to us," Barbossa shook his head and grumbled as he went over to the desk and pulled the message bottle from its drawer.

"Well I'll be a monkey's uncle," he laughed, "Seems that both Elizabeth and Willa went into labor tonight, each of them had a set of twins, Willa had two girls they're naming Victoria and Meredith, while Elizabeth had a boy and girl she named Malcolm and Mulan." "Odd that," Jaybird couldn't help commenting, "Us having our children at the same time, and all of us having twins at that," Barbossa shrugged, but he had to admit that his wife was right, it was rather odd. Barbossa settled down to write out letters of his own to send to everyone, with the news of his sons, and to assure everyone that there hadn't been any trouble with the delivery, which had been a large fear for all of the woman in the family. Plus if he didn't send word Ariel and Teague might kill him, immortal or no, for not telling them about their grandchildren the first moment he got, either way, he was not going to get on their bad sides. He knew they would all be making port at Shipwreck Cove for a visit so they could meet their grandchildren, Elizabeth would be stopping by the island to visit her father and introduced him to his grandchildren as well.


	2. Pieces of Eight Forged Anew

Elizabeth sighed, keeping up with twin babies and being a pirate captain was proving to be a challenge, but so far she was handling things, Jin and Matthew were a great help though, as was the crew, the twins had them all wrapped around their fingers already. Walking into her cabin she froze at the sight of a small chest sitting on her desk, the lid was engraved with a crab, there was only one person it could come from, "Calypso," she whispered uneasily, the last she knew Calypso wasn't looking very favorably upon the Brethren. "Elizabeth we have-," Matthew walked into the cabin and like Elizabeth froze upon seeing the chest, "What dose that she-devil want of us now," he finally demanded, "We're about to find out," Elizabeth said grimly and slowly opened the chest. "Oh my," Elizabeth gasped, before she found her breath had caught in her throat, there in the chest lay nine silver coins, each etched with the image of a crab on them in incredible detail, then they heard a voice, a familiar voice, Calypso's voice. "Forged anew they be," the voice of the sea goddess echoed through the cabin, through the ship and the crew shivered as a wind whipped up out of nowhere, carrying her voice to all who belonged to the Brethren Court.

"Nine pieces of eight I return to my Pirate Lords," Calypso continued, "Bound to the sea you all be, all remember from who comes your gifts, mine is that my Brethren roam the seas wild and free as they are meant to." Elizabeth and Matthew stared as eight of the coins vanished from the chest, Elizabeth reached in and picked up the coin and found it was strung on a silver chain, she quietly held it up for a moment before ceremoniously putting it around her neck. "Far be it from me to argue with a goddess," Elizabeth whispered, knowing that the other coins had been sent to the Pirate Lords, "Roam the sea wild and free are your orders Calypso, orders I will gladly follow." "Why is she doing this," Matthew demanded uneasily, "Helping us I mean, I thought she was still angry because the First Brethren Court bound her to human form," "She is shifting and ever changing as the sea," Elizabeth reminded him, "Her anger can cool quickly as it is roused." "Still," Matthew grimaced, "Her paying special attention to us makes me nervous, you can never tell whether she is going to help you or destroy you," Elizabeth nodded in agreement, but didn't say anything more, there wasn't a need to say anything.


	3. One Life Ends, Another Life Begins

"Make for the island with all speed," Elizabeth ordered the crew, "I've gotten word from Jack, father's dieing," the crew all nodded and worked to get all possible speed from the _Dragon_, they knew what her father meant to their captain. "Mother," she looked to see Jin, along with a six year old Malcolm and Mulan looking at her, "What's wrong with grandpa," Mulan asked, tears in her eyes, while Malcolm waited for an answer impatiently as well. It was already clear to everyone that Mulan was going to be a lady as she grew up, she was dressed just like her mother, only her robes were black with green trim, instead of dragon designs, and she had a green sash instead of a black one. Already she was learning to play the flute, one that was made of bone and carved with images of a stormy sea, she was showing a great deal of talent for it, but being a little lady didn't stop her from knowing all about sailing and pirates, it was in her blood after all. While Malcolm was a strong lad, he preferred wearing simple pants and a shirt, he was extremely protective of his sister, as was Jin, the loss of their grandfather would hurt them all, but there was nothing they could do to stop it now. "Your grandfather is dying Mulan," Elizabeth told her gently, not hiding the truth of the matter from her, "He is old and misses his wife, my mother who I named you for, very much, he goes to be with her once more, we can only be with him as he passes on."

* * *

><p>The moment they docked Elizabeth, Malcolm, Mulan, and Jin vaulted to the docks and raced up to the mansion, they weren't surprised to see the <em>Pearl<em> moored at the docks either, they had known that Jack, Willa, and the crew of the _Pearl_ were taking a vacation. Of course that was helped along by Anamaria being pregnant and she had no intention of giving birth in the middle of the sea like Willa, Jaybird, Elizabeth, and Belle, who had presented Bryce with a daughter they had named Janice two years ago, though not in the middle of a storm like the others, Janice had brown hair and black eyes. "You got here just in time," Willa said quietly, meeting them at the door, "He doesn't have much longer left in him," Elizabeth nodded and ran to her father's room, where Anamaria was sitting with him, heavily pregnant, she stood seeing Elizabeth enter the room, "He's been fading in and out," she told Elizabeth quietly, before walking out of the room, wanting to give them some privacy.

"Father," Elizabeth said, walking over to the bed and sitting on it, grabbing his hand in hers, "Its me," "Elizabeth," he breathed opening his eyes, "You came," "Of course we did," Elizabeth smiled sadly at him, tears in her eyes, "We all did." Malcolm, Mulan, and Jin stood at the bed, looking at their grandfather sadly, "I'm glad you made it in time to say our goodbyes," the Governor whispered, "Don't grieve for me, I go to be with your mother and there is no pain, I can ask for nothing more." "Grandpa," Mulan cried, "Don't cry Mulan," the Governor smiled at her, then made a last request, "Play for me," Mulan nodded and produced her flute from her sleeve and started playing, making sure to do the best she could, the Governor closed his eyes and moments later gave up the ghost. Mulan stopped playing, she and her mother breaking into tears, while Malcolm and Jin bowed their heads in grief, even though he hadn't been a governor in years, everyone had called him that, he had been a good man and he would be missed.

* * *

><p>The procession wound its way through the island to the grave site that Elizabeth had chosen, the crews of the <em>Pearl<em> and _Dragon_ followed the bier carried by Jack, Cotton, Gibbs, and Bootstrap, on it lay the Governor's simple casket. Right behind the bier walked Elizabeth, behind her were her children, next came Willa with Merry and Tora, then Anamaria, holding her newborn daughter Anna, Anamaria had gone into labor the moment the Governor had died, Anna looked like her father with her mother's curly black hair, though her skin tone was a shade or two darker than her fathers. At last they reached the graveside, a small clearing surrounded by nature's beauty, they had already dug the hole and with all due solemnity and ceremony the casket was lowered into the grave, Elizabeth and Mulan flinched when the first shovel-full of dirt hit the casket with a thud. They all remained until the grave was filled, then they slowly started to walk back to the mansion, Elizabeth finally fell to her knees and started to sob as if her heart was broken, a moment later she was joined by Mulan, Malcolm and Jin both settled down to wait for them to finish, unshed tears of their own in their eyes. At last Elizabeth finished crying and got to her feet, pulling Mulan up, "I'll make arrangements for a proper shrine to be built here for him," she promised the children, "Then we can burn incense for him whenever we visit," they all nodded, pleased by that.


	4. Years Gone By

Elizabeth walked to the cliff where she had last seen James ten years ago to the day, with her were the twins, Jin, behind her were the rest of the family, Jack and Willa, with their twins and son Brian, Barbossa and Jaybird with their twins, Bryce and Belle with Janice. Then there was Bootstrap and Anamaria with Anna and William, Teague and Ariel, not to mention all their crews, all waiting for James to arrive for his one day ashore for the next ten years. Elizabeth stared out onto the horizon as the sun started to rise, waiting for James to arrive with the _Dutchman_, then there was a flash of green and she smiled seeing the _Dutchman_ appear on the sea, even from the great distance she could spot James at the helm, she waved and ran down to the beach. Malcolm and Mulan looked at Jin, "That is our father," Mulan asked seeing the man who appeared on the beach from the water, "Yes," Jin nodded, smiling, "A good man, a honorable man, a good pirate, for all that he was a Commodore in the Navy." Both Mulan and Malcolm made disgusted faces at the mention of the Navy, the hated enemy of all pirates, most of the time the Navy was far more brutal than pirates, but they were both eager to meet their father for the first time in their lives.

"It will be good to see James again," Matthew couldn't help saying as they all started to walk down to the beach, having given time for Elizabeth and James to have a private moment to themselves, he knew James would be shocked and delighted to find out he was a father. Jack and Willa smiled as they herded the children down to the beach, everyone was glad to see James again, though some of them would never admit it, even under pain of death, one day out of every ten years wasn't much, but it was all they had to work with. "James," Elizabeth looked at them with a smile, "There are two people you need to meet," Malcolm and Mulan stepped forward and instantly James knew who they were, they looked like a perfect mix of himself and Elizabeth, there was no mistaking his delight at being a father. "What are there names," he asked, his voice slightly horse as Malcolm and Mulan stood in front of him, "I am Malcolm Sheng Norrington," Malcolm introduced himself, "And I am Mulan Beth Norrington father," Mulan smiled at him nervously. It was the first time they had met her father in person and they were nervous, though it was hard to tell with Malcolm, all they had to go on was stories their family told them about him and that had nothing on the real thing.

James fell to his knees on the sand and hugged them tightly to him, "My son, my daughter," he murmured to them, both children smiled and hugged him back, at last James stood and saw the others, noticing them for the first time. "Its good to see everyone again," he told them, noting the new additions, "Might I have some introductions," "These two are Victoria and Meredith Sparrow, though we call them Tora and Merry," Jack grinned and motioned to his daughters, both girls hid behind their father's legs, peering at James around them shyly, "And this is Brian Sparrow," Willa introduced their one year old son, who had dark brown hair and black eyes. "This is Carlos and Andros Barbossa," Jaybird introduced her son, Barbossa had a hand on their shoulders, to keep them from doing something inappropriate during this first meeting, James could learn what little hellions they could be soon enough. "This is your niece Janice," Bryce said proudly, picking Janice up and balancing her on his ship, "This is Anna," Bootstrap introduced his four year old daughter, "And this is William," Anamaria said, hold the hand of her two year old son who looked just like his father, but for her curly hair.

"Good lord you have all been busy," James said before he could stop himself, making them all burst into laughter, Jin stepped forward, "Good to see you again James," he told the man who was married to his mother. "Jin, you have grown into a man," James said smiling, at sixteen Jin was no longer a boy, but a man who had been tested and tried as he sailed with Elizabeth, he still wore his hair in a queue, the braid reaching his waist, he had chosen to have a goatee like his father, like Matthew he preferred to wear plain black Chinese robes. They all started walking back up to the cliffs, where they had food and drink prepared, they had a day to spend with James and intended to make the most of it, though they all knew that Elizabeth and James would go off together for a good part of the day. However when they reached the cliffs they found they had a visitor, Tia Dalma stood there with Monkey Jack on her shoulder, "Not to be rude or anything," Willa broke the silence, "But what are you doing here, we've not heard hide nor hair from you ever since the new pieces of eight mysteriously appeared, the crab is your mark, yet now you suddenly show up, why?"

"To give you gifts," Tia Dalma laughed then looked at Elizabeth and James, "Ten year you remained loyal in body and mind to my captain, ten year did he preform his duties loyally, ferrying them that died at sea to the other world. The curse is broken, no longer is your heart kept in a chest, but is back where it belongs, immortal captain of the _Flying_ _Dutchman_ you are and will remain." James gasped, his hand going to his chest, where he could feel his heart beating there for the first time in ten years, Elizabeth smiled at him, "Thank you," she whispered to Tia Dalma, "Oh I'm not done yet," Tia Dalma smiled, "No longer are you cursed, you can make port whenever you wish James Norrington, your crew is bound to the _Dutchman_, but they to can go ashore if they wish, you all can sail aboard the _Dutchman_ if you wish, even though ye be alive and will not be dying." "You are being generous, Tia Dalma," Ariel said, "Almost too generous," Teague agreed, "Ye all have earned what I be giving you," Tia Dalma retorted, walking over to James and touching his shoulder, making him yelp in surprise and slight pain, Tia Dalma only smiled, "I give the _Dutchman_ back the Kraken." They all paled as James ripped off his shirt to see what she had done, there on his shoulder was a tattoo of the Kraken, what was amazing thought was that it was moving and looked exactly like the real thing, "The tattoo will let you summon the Kraken," Tia Dalma told them, "Merely will it to life and it will do as bid."

Tia Dalma smiled and vanished as if she had never been there, Monkey Jack fell to the ground with an indignant screech, "Well that was interesting," Jack said, making everyone look at him, he returned the look and shrugged, "What," he asked. Everyone rolled their eyes, but James realized what this meant for him and Elizabeth, he picked her up and spun her in a circle before kissing her senseless, making the children all gag in disgust at the sight. "How about this," Willa said when James and Elizabeth broke apart for air, "We have our party and then sail for the mansion, where you and your crew and enjoy yourselves, not to mention spend time with your family now that you have the chance." "That sounds like a very good idea," James agreed, smiling broadly, "A very good idea," "I want to sail with dad," Malcolm said suddenly, wanting to get to know his father better, "And I would love to have you aboard the _Dutchman_," James agreed, then noticed the look on Elizabeth's face, "With your mother's permission of course," he added quickly, making everyone laugh.


	5. Family Tattoo's

"Alright," Malcolm said looking around to make sure they were all present, "Have you all decided on the design for your tattoo's," he asked, they all nodded, all the children had gotten together and decided to get tattoo's that would represent their parents in some form or another. Though none of them were children anymore, he, Mulan, Tora, Merry, Andros, and Carlos were all twenty-five, while Brian was fifteen, Anna was eighteen, Will was sixteen, and Janice was twenty one, then there was the youngest of the group. Maria Norrington was ten, she had dark brown hair and sea-green eyes, twelve year old Catalina Barbossa, who had auburn hair and merry blue eyes, and last of all eleven year old Andrew Gillette who had red hair and green eyes. If their mothers knew what they were planning they would all have a fit, but they were pirates after all and tattoo's came with the territory, besides it wasn't like they were getting on that would be something they would be ashamed of later down the road. Plus this was the first time they were all in Tortuga at the same time, it was to good a chance to pass up, one of the best tattoo artist was working out of Tortuga, plus they thought it was better to get them all done at once, so their mothers wouldn't stop them.

* * *

><p>"There you are Jack," Gibbs walked over to Jack and quickly ordered a tankard of rum for himself as he sat down in the tavern, "You might have some trouble on your hands pretty soon," "Oh really," Jack looked at Gibbs sharply through narrowed eyes, "And why would you say something like that?" "Because I just saw all of the kids come out of Sketch's place," Gibbs told him, grinning at Jack's reaction, Jack choked on the rum he had been swallowing, "Bloody hell," Jack finally managed to groan, "They know how their mother's feel about them getting tattoos, I better warn the other dads," he jumped to his feet and ran out of the tavern. Gibbs finished of his rum before getting to his feet and ambling after Jack, this was going to be fun to watch, if it involved the kids, it usually meant that the crews would get a laugh out of the situation one way or another. Gibbs reached the ships in time to see the bomb drop, Willa, Elizabeth, Belle, Jaybird, and Anamaria glaring at the children, while Barbossa, Bryce, James, Jack, and Bootstrap were trying to keep silent, it looked like they were about to laugh, but they knew what their wives would do if they did laugh.<p>

"You know what we think about you getting tattoos," Willa snapped, "So why did you go and get one," "Because we wanted something to represent the family," Tora volunteered quietly, she and Catalina were the shy ones of the children and often preferred to remain in the background. "Really something that would represent you and dad," Merry said, "We all got a tattoo that represented out parents, see," Merry rolled up her sleeve and showed them her tattoo, one of a flying sparrow with a blacksmith's hammer in its talons, Tora and Brian rolled up their sleeves and showed Willa their matching tattoos. "And what did ye three get," Barbossa asked looking at his three children, Andros, Carlos, and Catalina rolled up their sleeves to reveal a flying sparrow holding a chain it its talons, from which dangled a piece of Aztec Gold. "And you three," Elizabeth looked sternly at her children, who rolled up their sleeves to reveal a crowned kraken, "And what did you two get," Bryce asked Janice and Andrew, who showed him and Belle a tattoo of a flying sparrow with a pair of crossed swords under it. "And you two," Anamaria growled at Anna and Will, who showed her a sword crossed with a smoking pistol over a pair of black boots, "Well that isn't as bad as I thought it would be," Jack muttered, meaning the reaction of the wives, not the kids tattoos. The other men nodded in agreement, though they knew their wives would be ranting about this in private to them, but what were pirates without a couple of tattoos, not that they would tell their wives that, they happened to like sleeping a in a bed after all.


	6. A Double Wedding

Jin smiled down at Mulan, he was head over heels for her, but he hadn't done anything to let her know how he felt, she only saw him as a brother, sighing the fifty year old looked up at the stars, wishing he could have the wisdom to tell the women he loved of his feelings. Mulan followed his gaze to the stars, she was content to be near Jin, he would never thing of her as nothing more than a sister, silently she reflected that Maria and Anna were lucky, Brian and Andros had been head over heels for them and anyone with eyes could see it, their parents had given the matches between them their blessing and a double wedding was being planned at the mansion for them. Elizabeth stood at the helm with Matthew, they were both looking at Jin and Mulan, "They are blind to it aren't they," Matthew murmured softly to her, "Yes," Elizabeth sighed, "Both James and I would give a match between them our blessing, yet they can't seem to realize that they see the other romantically." Matthew nodded, "Malcolm would have done something to make them admit their feelings if he was here," he couldn't help saying, "Yes he would," Elizabeth agreed with a slight smile, "But he prefers sailing on the _Dutchman_ with James, perhaps we should recruit him when we arrive at the mansion for the wedding."

"That would work," Matthew agreed, Elizabeth glanced at him out of the corner of her eyes, she had noticed the looks he had been giving Catalina when they met up with the _Diamond_, she knew he was seriously attracted to Barbossa's only daughter. That in and of itself was a dangerous thing, as his only daughter Barbossa was insanely protective of Catalina, that was without adding in Carlos and Andros, both of whom were as insanely protective of their baby sister as well. She pondered what she should do about this, she thought they would be a good match, but she knew that Matthew was a bit worried about the age difference, but given that they were immortal, well, that shouldn't matter to them anymore. Shaking her head she resolved to talk to Jaybird about this when they met at the mansion, perhaps she would have some insight into the matter that she didn't, if she tried to play matchmaker she would need Jaybird help to keep her husband from killing Matthew either way. While Jin and Mulan could be her first mate, they all knew that Matthew was best for the position, plus neither of them wanted it, they were content with their current positions, they weren't looking to rise higher, everyone knew that.

* * *

><p>The <em>Dragon<em> pulled into the docks at the mansion and swiftly was moored at the dock, soon they were all making their way up to the mansion and already preparations for the wedding was underway, almost all the family was there. All that was left to arrive was the _Pearl_, Jack and Willa had promised to bring the priest with them, it was sometimes hard to find a priest who would perform a wedding ceremony for pirates, but they all knew that Jack would find someone, while Willa would make sure that he wouldn't be able to reveal the islands location. Elizabeth looked over the preparations with a smile, the grounds were clean, tables were set up, food was being brought out and inside she knew that Maria and Anna were preparing for their weddings, getting dressed and doing their hair. The brides, grooms, and the father's were the only ones who were really going to dress up for the wedding, everyone else was wearing what they normally wore, though Anamaria actually put on her best blue dress for her daughter's wedding. However everyone's clothing had been washed and cleaned, plus everyone had been forced to take a bath by the women, even Monkey Jack, who was not happy about being forced to take a bath, they had learned that he hated getting soap in his fur.

Mulan went into the house to speak with the brides, while Elizabeth went in search of Jaybird, Anamaria, and Belle, they had plotting to do, "I need to talk with you all privately," she told him, leading them to a secluded part of the mansion. "What is it," Anamaria demanded, slightly cross about getting pulled away like this, she had a wedding feast to get out on the tables for everyone after all, "I need your help getting Mulan and Jin together," Elizabeth told them all, being blunt about the matter. "Why do you need help with that, anyone with eyes can tell they care about each other as more then siblings," Belle asked, "They don't see it," Elizabeth explained, "I really want to do something about it, since its getting annoying to be see them holding themselves back from the other." "They aren't the only ones denying themselves love," Jaybird muttered, "Catalina favors Matthew a great deal," "Matthew has strong feelings for Catalina as well," Elizabeth admitted, "But he thinks the age different is to much to overcome, not to mention Barbossa's reaction to anyone courting Catalina." "I'll make sure my husband doesn't do anything stupid, if there is something between Catalina and Matthew," Jaybird promised, Elizabeth nodded gratefully to her, that had been one of her major concerns.

"Get Malcolm to help," Anamaria advised her, "We can discuss our plans later, but right now we have a wedding to go to, my baby girl is getting married," they all nodded and went to rejoin everyone else. They were pleased to see that the _Pearl_ was at the dock, which meant Willa and Jack had arrived with the priest, it wouldn't be long before the wedding would begin and then the party would commence. They could only hope that everyone didn't get too drunk, but they were pirates, so they knew everyone was going to get at least tipsy, if not out-right falling down drunk, as was customary for pirates during any celebration. Everyone was rustled up and took their seats, while the priest went to stand under the archway where he would marry the two couples, he appeared to be rather off-kilter, but then he was surrounded by pirates known for doing the impossible fairly often. Not to mention he was probably in shock from dealing with Jack, who was enough to drive a person to drink, even a priest, many wondered how Willa put up with him like she did and not become a drunk. Mulan had been asked to play the marriage march with her flute, she took a breath and started to play and everyone quieted, twisting in their seats, wanting to be the first to get a look the brides.

However it was Brian and Andros who walked down the aisle first, both wearing a new suit of clothes, they each wore polished black boots, Brian wore cream colored pants, Andros a pair of dark tan pants. Then there was their crisp white shirts, over which was fitted a gentleman's vest with silver buttons, Brian's was a royal blue silk, while Andros's was a deep red, to complete their ensemble they had brushed out their hair and pulled it back from their faces with a cloth tie that matched their vest. Then James and Bootstrap started to walk down the aisle with Maria on James arm and Anna on Bootstrap's, both men were wearing clean clothing and so as to not take away attention from the pending marriage, they had dressed in somber colors. Both men wore black boots, pants, a crisp white shirt, with a black vest, the only real color on them was the silver buttons winking in the sunlight, they managed to look very handsome, while at the same time managing to not catch the eye.

The brides looked stunning in their wedding gowns, Maria wore a blue gown that matched Brian's vest with silver lace trimming, her hair was half-up and half down, with a veil that was edged with silver and white hand-made lace fell to her ankles. Anna wore a deep red gown with silver lace trimming, however her silver lace had a slight overtone of gold, making her slightly darker skin tone really pop, her hair was up in an elegant up-do, a veil with hand-made lace edging that matched the trimming of her dress, like Anna the veil fell to her ankles. Both women were smiling radiantly and their fathers handed them to their soon-to-be husbands without fear, knowing that their daughters would be taken care of and treated like the princesses they were in their eyes. Brian looked at Maria's smiling face, she seemed radiant, Andros did the same to Anna and the priest smiled at the couples, clearly seeing that despite their less than legal occupation they loved each other. "Dearly beloved we are gathered here today," the priest said starting the wedding ceremony, it wasn't long before the mother's of the brides were crying, along with every other woman there, and quite a few men from the crew were suspiciously misty-eyed themselves.

* * *

><p>"I now pronounce you man and wife, you may kiss the bride," the priest finishing the ceremony and the two newly wedded couples kissed, everyone started to cheer and clap for them, glad to see them tie the knot. "I give you Mr and Mrs Brian Sparrow and Mr and Mrs Andros Barbossa," the priest proclaimed as the two couples turned and romped back down the aisle, making some of the crew laugh, but now it was time for them to celebrate the occasion, pirate style. Sure enough the rum came out and everyone started laughing and enjoying themselves, though the guns had been taken away by the women before hand to keep anyone from getting shot, though everyone still had their swords. The priest wasn't sure what to make of everyone, but eventually decided that he should just go with it, it wasn't long before he was matching several of the crew drink for drink, which surprised everyone at first, they had thought him rather straight-laced. Anamaria, Jaybird, Willa, and Elizabeth were delighted with the marriages, while Bootstrap and James were trying to adjust that their baby girls, were, well, not their baby girls anymore, since it was unlikely that anymore children would be born to them.<p>

An unexpected side affect of being immortal was that it was as if there was some sort of limit on the number of children they could have, Ariel had tried to explain it, but they didn't really understand it, but the gist of it was that immortals would rarely have more than three children. Of course Ariel's father had hundreds of children, but apparently that wasn't the norm and mer-maids worked differently than human in the children department, however they were happy with their lives and had no real reason to complain. Elizabeth and Jaybird were watching the party from their seats, "Perhaps Catalina could sail with us for a time," Elizabeth suggested nonchalantly, "Mulan would love to have her on board," "That actually sounds like a good idea," Jaybird agreed, realizing what Elizabeth was thinking, "I'm sure she'd agree to it, if asked, she has complained that she hadn't been seeing Mulan as much as she'd like." Then a shadow fell over them, they looked up to see it was Malcolm, "What are you planning mother," he demanded, "I know that look, you're scheming about something," "Have you noticed the attraction between Mulan and Jin, not to mention Matthew and Catalina," Elizabeth asked, knowing he would read between the lines easily.

"Of course I have," Malcolm agreed with a smirk, "If you want any advice, try locking them in a room together or something," "Don't think we haven't considered it," Elizabeth laughed, "But we simply intend to make them see the truth of the matter." "While I make sure that Hector doesn't kill Matthew when he finds out," Jaybird smiled, "Yeah," Malcolm winced in agreement, knowing how his uncle would react to that bit of news, "That would be a very good idea." Mulan came over, hugging Malcolm, "How are things aboard the _Dutchman_," she asked him, "Good," Malcolm laughed, "Attacked a couple East India ships, got a nice bit of shine from them," Mulan grinned when she heard that. All of them went out of their way to make trouble for the East India Trading Company, after what Beckett had tried, they would show them no mercy, even though Beckett was long dead, it didn't matter to them. Their black ships, along with the _Dutchman_ were considered ghost ships by the Navy and the East India Company, nothing they tried to catch them worked, they seemingly disappeared and reappeared out of nowhere. Frankly many believed they were nothing more than stories told to frighten people until they appeared and attacked ships, they preferred it this way, though, it made things easier when they attacked.


	7. Its About Time

Elizabeth smiled at Mulan and Catalina, they were both laughing about something, besides her Jin and Matthew stood watching the girls, longing in their eyes, mentally she sighed and shook her head. Catalina had sailed with them for three months now and no progress had been made with Catalina and Matthew, nor with Mulan and Jin, she was starting to think it was going to take a life-or-death situation for them to admit their feelings to the other. "Sail ho," their lookout yelled, "Flying East India flag," instantly they all swung into action, Elizabeth barking out orders, they never passed up a chance to attack and loot an East India ship, weapons were readied and cannon's primed. Elizabeth smiled as the ship came into view, it was heavy in the water, clearly loaded down with goods, just the way she liked it, "Prepare to board," she yelled as the cannon's roared, hitting the ship hard enough that it was pretty much dead in the water, perfect. They pulled up alongside the ship and swung over, grapples were thrown to make sure the ship didn't drift away from them, as fighting broke out among the ship, Elizabeth was in the thick of things, leading the attack.

Jin whirled among the sailors, Mulan at his side, both of them worked well together in a fight, always had for some reason, as did Catalina and Matthew they had discovered when they had attacked a ship after she started to sail with them. It wasn't long before the fighting was almost over, most of the sailors were dead and the captain was on his last legs, it was clear he had never faced a fighter like Elizabeth before, but as he fell to the ground his eyes landed on Mulan and Catalina who had split from Jin and Matthew and were fighting together. He pulled his pistol and fired it, before grabbing his spare and firing it, Elizabeth had been distracted by a sailor who sought to defend his captain, "No," Jin and Matthew yelled as they watched Mulan and Catalina fall to the deck of the ship, shot. Elizabeth whirled around to see her daughter and niece on the deck, blood staining their clothes, she snarled, killing the captain, "Take no prisoners, kill them all," she roared the order, the crew nodded and killed every sailor on the ship down to the last man. Jin and Matthew ran over to the girl, frantically checking their wounds, they both paled when they saw them, it was bad, if they didn't get treatment soon they would be a long time recovering from it.

"Get them back aboard the _Dragon_," Elizabeth yelled at them, shocking them back into action, "The doctor will treat them there," Jin and Matthew nodded and carefully picked up Mulan and Catalina, rushing them back to the _Dragon_. "Shen," Jin yelled as they burst into the doctor's cabin, "They've been injured," Shen looked up and was instantly alarmed as he took in the condition of Mulan and Catalina, "Put them on the beds," he ordered. At the moment he was blessing Tia Dalma, who had magicked the families ships, now they didn't have to worry about running out of room, all the crew had their own cabins, which were rather large, not to mention a kitchen, living area, armory, and even a bathing room. While he had been gifted with a real infirmary, one with a dozen beds, a small room to hold his supplies, which he guarded zealously, none but he were allowed to set foot in there, it was his pride and joy after all. He ran into his closet and grabbed the basics, rushing out he was pleased to see that Matthew and Jin had already removed the girl's clothing so that he could access the wounds better, they were also trying to stem the bleeding. All of the crews knew the basics of emergency medicine, it was simply something that they needed to know, given their live style and the dangers that came with it, if they wouldn't need it, another crew member would.

"Hold her still," Shen ordered heading over to Mulan, "I'm going to have to remove the bullet and clean the wound," Jin nodded and tightened his hold on Mulan, his throat clogging up from fear for Mulan. Shen slowly reached into the wound with a long metal tweezer, Mulan whimpered and tried to move, but Jin's hold n her stopped that before she finally passed out, after what seemed like forever Shen slowly pulled the tweezer out, clutched between the tong's was a bullet. "There," Shen muttered and carefully cleaned and stitched the wound, "That should do it," he told Jin, expertly bandaging the wound, "She should wake up in a bit," "I'll stay with her until then," Jin agreed, "Is it safe for me to take her to her cabin." "It should be," Shen agreed after a moment of thought, "But if there is any excessive bleeding let me know right away, it could mean there is trouble," "As you say," Jin nodded and gently picked up Mulan and carried her out of the infirmary. Shen shook his head, Jin was a goner he could tell, he hurried over to Catalina, Matthew had kept a thick pad of bandages firmly pressed on her sound, Shen carefully removed the pad of bandages as Matthew grabbed Catalina to keep her from moving, thankfully she had passed out a few moments ago, so she shouldn't feel much pain.

"Damn it," Matthew swore quietly as Shen removed the bullet, cleaned the wound and bandaged it, "You can take her to her cabin if you want," Shen told him, then repeated the warning he had given Jin, "If there is any excessive bleeding come and get me right away." Matthew nodded and picked Catalina up, carrying her to her cabin, his heart felt like it was breaking to see her in this state, he was perfectly willing to admit that he was head over heels for Catalina in his mind, but to anyone else, he couldn't bring himself to do it. He walked into Catalina's cabin and gently placed her on the bed, sighing as he did so, grabbing a chair and pulling it over to the bed before he sat down in it, Elizabeth poked her head in, "She'll be alright," she asked softly stepping into the cabin. "Shen seems to think so," Matthew told her tiredly, "Then she will be," Elizabeth smiled at him gently, before she shocked him, "You should tell her how you feel about her though Matthew." "Why, she would just reject me," Matthew snorted, "I'm old enough to be her father, better she never know, it would save me some heartache and prevent awkwardness between us," "Why don't you let me be the judge of that," they both looked at Catalina on the bed in shock.

Matthew paled as he realized that she had just heard everything, Elizabeth smirked and slipped out of the cabin, silently closing the door behind her, they needed some time alone to work things out and she needed to check on Mulan. "You heard that," Matthew whispered quietly, "All of it," Catalina confirmed, looking at him shyly, "Did you really mean that," "Every word," Matthew admitted, figuring he better come clean with her now that she knew, "I didn't mean for you to find out." "I'm kind of glad I know," Catalina told him before admitting a secret of her own, "You see, I've liked you for a while now, I just never acted on it because I thought you would reject me since I'm young enough to be your daughter." "And I thought you would reject me because I was old enough to be your father," Matthew chuckled, seeing the irony of the situation, Catalina smiled at him, "Shall we see where this goes," she asked, "I think we should," Matthew smiled at her, "I think we should." Matthew got up and leaned over the bed, gently kissing Catalina, who was shocked but pleased by the kiss, shyly returning it, having a hard time believing she was having a chance to be with the man who had stolen her heart years ago.

* * *

><p>Jin sighed as he waited for Mulan to wake, seeing her hurt like this brought out a tangle of emotions in him, he was angry she had been hurt like this, but it had brought home the true depth of his feelings for her. "That's it," he muttered to himself, "When she wakes I'll tell her how I feel," "About time you did that," he looked to see Elizabeth standing in the doorway, "Its high time you did something about your feelings for her, everyone could see that you were attracted to each other but yourselves." "Were we that obvious mother," Jin groaned, Elizabeth nodded, "Yes, but neither of you seems to see how you both really felt about each other," she chuckled, "I will tell you right now though, James and I will give a match between you and Mulan our blessing if it comes to that." "I hope it will," Jin smiled slightly, Elizabeth nodded to him and left, confident that her daughter was in good hands, besides there was a matter of the booty to be seen to, they had ended up doing something rather unusual with their booty. All the BlackFleet, as the <em>Black Dragon<em>, _Black Pearl_, _Black Diamond_, _Black Opal_, and _Black Marauder_ were known as among the Brethren, combined their booty together. Willa oversaw investing it and already they had amassed a small fortune, their intention was to use it as time passed to see that their children and crew got proper schooling as time passed, like sending their doctor to medical schools so they could learn new methods of treating wounds and the like.

"Oh, what happened," Mulan groaned as she woke, the last thing she remembered was getting shot, "You were shot," Jin reminded her, "I would like if you wouldn't scare me like that again, I don't think my heart could take it." Mulan looked at Jin with wide eyes, hope in them, hope that she wasn't mis-understanding him, hope that he was saying he had feelings that were stronger than that of a brother for his sister, "What," she whispered hope in her voice. "I care for you Mulan," Jin admitted, taking the plunge, "I care for you as more than a sister," "I have liked you as more than a brother for a long time now Jin, I just thought you only saw me as a sister though," Mulan whispered, hardly believing that this was happening. "I think we both were blind to what was right in front of us," Jin finally laughed, Mulan smiled and nodded in agreement, "What will mom and dad think about this though," Mulan wondered, fearing they would be against the match. "Mother said she and James would give a match between us their blessing," Jin assured her, "Apparently they saw how we really felt about each other and I think mother was on the verge of giving us a nudge in the right direction though," Mulan blushed and covered her face with her hands in embarrassment.

* * *

><p>"I still don't like this," Barbossa grumbled to Jaybird as he buttoned up his black waistcoat, Jaybird sighed, "Hector, she is a woman grown and she loves Matthew and he loves her, what more can you ask for in a match," she reminded him. "Still," Barbossa snapped, having finished getting dressed in his black wedding outfit, "She's my baby girl," "And she will always be your baby girl," Jaybird agreed, "But you're going to have to let her go, she wants this match with Matthew so badly." "I think its a bit rushed though," Barbossa complained, "They only admitted how they felt two months ago," "So," Jaybird shrugged, "I knew you and I were in love only after a week, we were married a month later, you have no room to talk about having short romances and you know it." "Daddy," they looked to see Catalina walk into the room in her wedding finery and Barbossa suddenly felt emotional, "You look beautiful," he finally managed to say and it was true, Catalina looked stunning. She wore a gown of emerald green silk trimmed with silver handwoven lace, her hair was piled up on her head into a intricate up-do that looked to have taken hours to style, she wore a veil edged with handwoven silver lace that reached her ankle, the lace matched the lace that trimmed her gown. "Shall we get this show on the road," Barbossa asked Catalina, offering her his arm, "Please daddy," Catalina slipped her arm into his, Barbossa sighed and knew he couldn't deny Catalina this, she looked at Matthew the same way he looked at Jaybird.<p>

"Mulan you look stunning," Catalina smiled at her friend, who was wearing the traditional Chinese wedding robes called a Yuanlingshan, it was red of course, the color of good luck among the Chinese. The robe itself was embroidered with gold dragons, however instead of wearing the traditional Phoenix Crown her hair was up in a elegant bun with a ankle length red veil that was edged with intricate gold bead work of dragons. Mulan smiled at Catalina, "You look the same," she returned the compliment, they made their way out of the mansion, everyone else had went to get their seats, Catalina and Mulan were curious as to how Matthew and Jin would dress. Matthew was Chinese in almost every way but birth now, they knew Jin would be wearing robes, but they wondered what Matthew would choose to wear, but they knew whatever it was, it would be in good taste. At last they reached the aisle and got their first looks at their future husbands, Jin was wearing blue robes with a green sash that had heavy gold embroidery, Matthew was wearing blue-green robes with a blue sash that was heavily embroidered with gold dragons, his hair was pulled neatly back by a leather thong. The brides seemed to float down the aisle to the grooms, everyone was smiling, though the priest was slightly thrown off by the strong Asian influence among the grooms and one of the brides clothing, "Dearly beloved," he started the ceremony.


	8. The Rage of the Brethren

"Lift me up boys," Hans rasped out the order, he wasn't much longer for this world he knew, but by gods he would make sure the Nazi's knew what it meant to challenge the Brethren Court, carefully his first mate helped him sit up. He coughed up some blood, "They might kill us," he told his crew, "But we'll have the last laugh, let's hoist the colors," he held up a piece of eight in his bloodstained hand, "Give me a beat, boys," the crew nodded and started to stomp out a rhythm, rattling their chains in time with the beat.

"_The King and his men stole the queen from her bed,_

_And bound her in her bones._

_By the powers the seas be ours_

_And were we will, we'll roam_,"

Hans managed to rasp out the first verse, the guards had heard them and came to see what the commotion was, the crew all glared at them, hate in their eyes, as they continued stamping out a beat and rattling their chains as they took up the song.

"_Yo ho, all hands,_

_Hoist the colors high_

_Heave, ho, thieves and beggars_

_Never shall we die_

_Yo ho, haul together_

_Hoist the colors high,_

_Heave, ho, thieve and beggars_

_Never shall we die._"

The crew roared out the song as loud as they could, not that any of them could hold a tune anymore after all the screaming they had done lately, but their singing was making the guards nervous, a lot of the guards found their hands going to their guns at their hips, while a couple outright stepped back several paces in fear.

"_Some have died and others are alive,_

_Others sail the sea_

_With the key to the cage and the devil to pay_

_We lay to the Fiddler's Green_

_The bell has been raised from its watery grave . . . . _

_Do you hear its __sepulchral tone?_

_A call to all, pay heed to the squall_

_And turn your sail to home_."

The guards were starting to outright panic as the pirates continued the song, a wind springing up in the room, ruffling hair and sending chills down the guards backs, they drew their pistols and started firing on the pirates in their terror. Even as they were shot at, the crew continued to sing, they were pirates, part of the Brethren Court, they gave no mercy and expected none in return, Hans smiled triumphantly as he started the last verse of the song that would summon the Brethren Court alone, all his crew was dead, he was the last to remain alive.

"_Yo ho, haul together,_

_Hoist the colors high,_

_Heave, ho, thieves and beggars,_

_Never shall we die_."

One final shot rang out and Hans breathed his last, the guards looked at each other trembling and unnerved by the victorious smiles on all the pirate's faces, even as they had been shot, then they heard the sound of ghostly laughter. Their terrified gazes beheld the pirates they had just murdered, "Its is you who will face the Brethren of the Seas," Hans laughed at them, "It is you who will face the Black Fleet and the King of the Brethren Court. You who the _Flying_ _Dutchman_ will ferry over to the land of the dead, you who will face the terror that is the Kraken, you who have invoked the rage of the seas herself, you have brought your doom upon you." Hans and his crew laughed once more before they faded away, the guards screamed in terror and ran from the room, practically mad with terror from what they had just done and seen, it would be hours before they could even speak properly again.

* * *

><p>"I call this, the Fifth Brethren Court to order," Barbossa roared out, using a cannonball for a gavel, there was quiet as the Pirate Lords all took their seats, "Presenting Captain Swann," Barbossa formally got things started, "Pirate Lord of the South China Seas and King of the Brethren Court." Elizabeth walked to the head of the table and took her seat in the throne like chair there, James and Jin seemed to materialize out of nowhere to stand on either side of her, appearing to be Elizabeth's guards. Elizabeth had planned this carefully, Jin was in his usual black robes, but James wasn't wearing a shirt, showing off the scar where he had had his heart cut out and the moving Kraken tattoo as well. All of the Brethren present looked at James with a mixture of awe and fear, as captain of the <em>Flying Dutchman<em> he was a legend and all of them could claim that this was their first time seeing him in person. "The Court has been convened to determine our stance on the coming war, we must decide where we will stand," Elizabeth told them, "Who sang the song," demanded Saladin, Pirate Lord of the Black Sea, "Captain Hans and his crew," Willa answered, "Tortured and killed by the Nazi's in an effort to learn about the Brethren, there is only one reason Hans would sing the song. The Nazi's intend to try and bring us to heel, under their control, make us their attack dogs and control the sea," "True spoken," Tia Dalma appeared and smiled at them all, though it was more a baring of teeth. Everyone stared at her in shock, many of them had never seen Calypso before, they all knew the stories of course, but meeting the legend in the flesh was something else, plus something about the goddess unnerved them.

"Calypso," Elizabeth bowed her head to the goddess, "I have no intention of being anyone's slave, hear my judgment of this matter, we have been closely watching the Nazi's and I believe without a doubt they will start another Great War. One that will be far more destructive and costly than any other war, not to mention their beliefs about the Jews and Gypsies, it goes against everything the Brethren stand for, taking away a persons freedom in such a manner. I am hereby declaring a state of war with Hitler and his Nazi's, Hitler's allies are our enemies, Hitler's enemies are our allies. We are at war, Captain Norrington," everyone looked to James, "I am ordering you to release the Kraken, target all Nazi's U-boats and ships in the Atlantic Ocean," Elizabeth ordered. "With pleasure," James bowed, slapping his fist to his heart in a salute, he turned sharply and marched out of the room, Elizabeth looked at the assembled pirates, "You have your orders," she said, "We will show the Nazi's what it means to face the Brethren Court, hoist the colors, let them know who will be their death," everyone started to cheer.

* * *

><p>Elizabeth looked coolly at the assembled Nazi officers standing on the beach, it had been five months since she had declared war on them and the Second Great War had officially started two months ago, James had knocked out many Nazi ships and U-boats, now the Nazi's had invoked the right of parley, she was bound by the code to hear them out. Elizabeth strode forward, Matthew on one side, Jin on the other, her crew was hidden in the surrounding area ready to fall upon the Nazi's like vultures once parley was ended, for added support the <em>Pearl<em> and _Dutchman_ were sitting just offshore, hidden by magic. "You have invoked the right of parley," Elizabeth informed the leader coolly once they were close enough that she wouldn't have to raise her voice to be heard clearly, "I have no choice, but to hear whatever garbage it is you want to say." "Who are you to speak to us, the representatives of the Fuhrer himself," the leader spat at her, clearing thinking that since she was a woman she was not anyone important, he had already dismissed her as a danger, something he would regret before she killed him, Elizabeth privately swore to herself.

"I am Captain Swann," Elizabeth smirked cruelly at them, "Pirate Lord of the South China Seas and King of the Brethren Court, who are you to speak to me in such a manner," the officer was turning red from rage. "How dare you whore," he spat at her, "You are to hand over command of the pirates to the Fuhrer, who will put them to use in the proper manner," "No," Elizabeth answered curtly, "We will not serve your precious little Hitler, he is a mere mad man with delusions of grandeur, soon enough his little empire will come tumbling down and when it happens we will laugh." That was to much for the officer, he drew his gun and opened fire, the rest of his party following his lead, but they were gunned down before most could get off a single shot, Elizabeth calmly drew her gun and fired once and the officer who had so insulted her fell to the ground dead. "Willa I need you here," Elizabeth intoned, knowing that Willa would have watched everything with her magic, a moment later Willa appeared besides her, "What do you have in mind Elizabeth," Willa asked, "Jack and James are handling the boat, none will get away alive, they made sure of that." "Make it seem as if they all disappeared into thin air," Elizabeth said, Willa smiled slowly, "Wicked, wicked girl," she chuckled, "You're planning something aren't you," Elizabeth nodded, "But I'll need your help for it," she smirked and told Willa her idea.

* * *

><p>Hitler hummed as he entered his office, the war was going well if he did say so himself, he stepped into his office and instantly screamed in horror, there piled on his desk were the severed heads of the officers who he had sent to find out who was giving orders to the pirates that were attacking his navel forces. Instantly his guards ran into the room, forming a human shield around the Fuhrer, only to find that the intruder who had left the heads of their comrades was long gone, then they noticed the sealed letter that was pinned on the head of the commanding officer by means of a dagger. One of the guards carefully walked over and removed the letter, he handed it to the Fuhrer, "Perhaps you should go elsewhere to read it," he suggested, Hitler nodded and they quickly ushered him to another room, where he sank down into a chair and unsealed the letter and started to read it.<p>

_Greetings to Adolf Hitler, the Idiot Who Thinks He is God,_

_I have received your demands and reacted accordingly, we will never submit to a belligerent fool who can't even claim knowledge of the real world, one who instead believe the swill about a master race. Also you need to teach your so-called officers and representatives of your so-called Aryan Race better manners, they were quite rude to me when they asked for parley, their insults and inability to keep their temper resulted in their deaths, not to mention the fact that they violated parley by drawing their weapons in an attempt to kill us. We thought we would send you a little message and an answer to your demand that we hand over control of the Brethren Fleets to you, of course our answer is no way in hell you sick son of a bitch. If your mother was alive to see you know she would be shamed to call you her son I'm sure and wish she never birthed you, just in case I used words to big for you to understand, that mean no, we won't hand over the Brethren Fleets. I feel that you must be informed that an official state of war now exists between us, your allies will be our enemies and dealt with accordingly, the fools deserve whatever we do to them for being stupid enough to ally with you._

_Your's truly_

_Captain Swann, _

_Lord of the Brethren Court and Commander of the Black Fleet of the Order of the Brethren of the Seas_

Hitler stared at the letter in his hands as he shook with rage, he had never been insulted in such a manner in his life, finally he lurched to his feet and started to rant to himself, shocking his guards at his rage. Meanwhile other members of Hitler's guard were removing the head's from his office and trying to hush up the matter, but it was a losing battle, between several servants seeing the heads and the bloodstains left behind, the people on the streets knew about it in hours.

* * *

><p>Among the spies of the British, Poles, and French, the story seemed almost to good to be true, but when investigations proved it really happened, they were practically dancing with glee, the spies even managed to get their hands on the letter and sent it to England. The British decided to deal a blow to Hitler's ego and aired the letter word for word to everyone over the radio, while also sending copies to newspapers through England, America, Africa, Asia, and Europe, for a while Hitler was a laughingstock. Then when the Allies noticed that a good number of Nazi ships and U-boats were vanishing and it wasn't there doing, well that got them curious, but they were unable to figure out who was responsible for the loss of ships and U-boat. Then a missive made its way to the leaders of the Allies desks, it simply read, '<em>Pirates pay back insults in kind<em>,' which led them all to deduce that Hitler had offended pirates deeply and, more disturbing, that pirates were on some level organized.


	9. Undercover Pirates

"Are you sure you want to do this," James asked, they had all gathered at Shipwreck Cove to discuss a possible future threat, a newly started terrorist organization going by the name of Cobra, "We are dad," Maria told him firmly, "You need people in place that can get you the information you will need at some point." "The only problem I have with this plan is that me and Maria will be separated, but for leave time," Brian complained, "And I know that Andros and Anna feel the same way," "I know, but we need you all in position," Elizabeth sighed, "Just bear it, it will make the time you spend with Maria and Anna all the more precious, it was that way with me and James during those ten years." "Alright I admit this is a good idea," Jack sighed, "But are you sure this Cobra is going to be a danger to the Brethren," "Yes Jack," Willa snapped, "They will, I feel it deep in my gut," "That's enough for me," Belle said as she rocked Sandra, her two year old daughter, who had been colicky lately and was having trouble getting any sleep. Sandra had been a complete surprise for Bella and Bryce, they had thought that after Janice and Andrew they hadn't been able to have anymore children, so Sandra was a welcome surprise, with dark auburn hair and blue eyes.

"We all agreed this needs to be done," Malcolm said finally, the whole of the BlackFleet knew what was being talked about and they knew this was going to be hard on everyone involved, "Brian and me will join the Navy in America, Maria is going into the CIA in America, while Andros and Carlos will join up with Cobra." "Did it have to be the colonies," James complained, making them all laugh, he had never really approved of the rebellion that had ended up creating the United States of America, he had yet to call it anything other than the colonies. Jin shook his head, a grin on his face, he wrapped an arm around Mulan, all the couples in the family were curled up together in one form or another, things had changed among the Brethren over the last few decades. With the coming of modern technology Elizabeth had acted, making them adopt much of the technology for use among the Brethren, knowing it would give them an advantage over their prey, not to mention if they didn't change with the times they would be wiped out. It had nearly happened once before and none of them were anxious to see anything like that happen again, though their ships had been only marginally modernized, if at all, it was much more practical for them to use magic for refrigeration and plumbing, not to mention lighting. The only really modern things they had aboard their ships were some modern grenades, explosives, and weapons, though they rarely used them, of course they had a radio to keep in contact with the Brethren Fleet and computers. As for clothing they all wore the clothing they were most comfortable in, that of the time they were born in, oh, when they went on the mainland and to college or for business reasons they dressed in modern clothing to blend in. They still made port at Tortuga regularly and everyone there knew the stories surrounding them and their ships, most though they were merely reenactors, but still others believed the stories about them.

As a whole the Brethren had embraced modern technology, they had a radio frequency that was impossible for anyone but a pirate to use to contact other pirates, but it couldn't keep up with the speed of the song when the shit hit the fan. The Black Fleet didn't have have to worry about money, they were richer than god, Willa's investments over the centuries had really paid off, they sent their people off to college, most especially their doctors, just because they were immortal it didn't mean they couldn't be hurt, they had the scars to prove it. For all that some pirates scoffed at their old fashioned ship and weapons, every time they came out on top when they tangled with modern ships, you couldn't argue with those results, there wasn't a trick that they didn't know. The Black Fleet were legends among those that made their living off the sea, however, if you weren't a pirate everyone pretty much believed they were myths, stories from the Golden Age of Piracy, but the Brethren Court knew they were very much alive and many pirates idolized them in some form or another. "Children," Ariel sighed, "You all know what must be done, so stop complaining about it, for the sake of the Brethren Court it must be done," they all nodded, Elizabeth sighed, they all knew something was coming, they could all feel it, they just didn't know what it was.


	10. Gentle Emerald Eyes

Merry sighed, she was sipping some rum as she waited for Andros and Carlos to stop by, to get their latest report on Cobra, eight years they, Brian, Malcolm, and Maria had been undercover and it had proven to be a wise move indeed. Cobra was now a world-wide organization and a dangerous threat, Cobra had been clashing with the Brethren ever since it came into being nine years ago, while Malcolm and Brian had managed to get into GI Joe, an elite military unit created to combat Cobra's threat. Things hadn't changed much where everyday life was concerned, though Malcolm had found himself a sweetheart among the Joes, Snake Eyes, a nice woman, who was a real-life ninja of all things, but then they didn't have much room to talk, they were pirates after all. Malcolm had ended up bringing Snake Eyes to the Cove to see if Tia Dalma could heal her of some horrific injuries on her face that had left scars that no amount of modern medicine could get rid of, so he had taken a gamble and told her the truth and brought her to the Cove. She had handled Malcolm's secret rather well and Merry knew they were happy together, but she was left feeling a little jealous, she, Tora, Carlos, Andrew, Will, and Janice were still single and after so long she wondered if she would ever find herself a man who could love her like her father did her mother.

Sensing someone enter the bar she glanced up at the door and found herself entranced by the man who had just entered, he was Asian, or at least had a Asian heritage, black hair cut short and blue-black eyes, the odd thing was he was dressed almost completely in white. Upon realizing that he had noticing her staring she instantly blushed and dropped her gaze to the scarred wooden tabletop in front of her, this bar was a pirate watering hole and the bartender knew exactly what she was and who her family was. She glanced up as old Amos walked from behind the bar and gave her a refill, "Be wary of him lassie," he warned her, he called her and Tora lassie from the moment they had met centuries ago, "He likes his women and he ain't much for settling on just one woman from what I hear, it would take a real special someone to get him to settle down. 'Course, given who your parents are, you might be just what he needs," by this point Amos's eyes were twinkling merrily at her, "I knew your dad before your mother managed to do what we thought was impossible and make Jack a one woman man, he'd chase anything in a skirt, if your mother got your dad to settle down, you can do the same if you find yourself a player." "Amos," Merry wailed quietly in sheer embarrassment, but was saved by Andros and Carlos walking in the bar and heading over to her, "I better get their drinks," Amos said quickly and went back to the bar to fetch a couple mugs and started to pour the rum.

"Alright cousin," Carlos teased her as he and Andros sat down at her table, both looking a little tired, "What has you so red in the face," "Nothing," Merry murmured, her eyes cutting over towards the man in white for the barest of seconds. It wasn't much, but it was enough to tip them off and they turned to see who it was that had caught her attention, they both gaped as they realized who it was, "Of all the men that would catch your attention Merry," Andros groaned loudly. "You had to pick Storm Shadow," Carlos sighed, "He's alright and he's never hurt a woman, but he's a player and involved closely with the Cobra High Command, we don't want you involved with that sort of thing Merry, its better to not get involved, you know that." "I guess," Merry agreed, "Though you might like to know this though, Tia asked Aunt Belle and Uncle Bryce to take in a kid about Sandra's age as a favor for her, said they grew up at the same time and were good friends, then he did some stupid things. One of those stupid things got him killed and his foster brother pulled some strings or something and now he has a second chance to be a real kid, but that everyone but for his foster brother keep throwing his past actions in his face constantly. He was smart enough be prepare to pull a runner when it got to be to much, since he didn't want to become what he was before and if he stayed that would be exactly what would happen," "His name," Carlos asked warily, "Loki," Merry answered, knowing from the look in the twins eyes they had filled in the blanks.

Tommy had noticed the woman right away when he entered the slightly run-down bar, that she had noticed him was surprise, he was a master at blending in and remaining unnoticed, despite his tendency for wearing white. Yet she had not only noticed him, but had sensed his arrival, she bore watching, from the bartender's reaction it looked like she was a regular, which was a surprise, since he would have thought a woman like her would prefer a place a little more refined. The woman had long black hair that reached her waist and was kept out of her face by a gold bandanna and emerald eyes, she was dressed strangely though, she looked like she came out of the seventeen hundreds, black leather pants, black pirate boots, a white linen pirate shirt, a tightly fitting black vest that greatly resembled a corset was worn over her shirt, and a gold sash was around her waist. However that wasn't the end of it, there was a leather sash over the gold one, in it was two old fashioned flintlock pistols and a sword, but he was willing to bet she had other weapons hidden on her as well. There was just a shy air about her and a gentleness which was totally at odds with the regular clientèle of this bar, which was pirates, smugglers, and only god knows what else, but the shock came when Mako and Hammerhead walked into the bar and headed straight for the woman. He shamelessly eavesdropped on the conversation, he was surprised to find that they were cousins with the woman, everything he knew about the twins said they didn't have any family, but then he could understand that they could have 'forgot' to tell anyone at Cobra that sort of information. Frowning slightly he wondered what was going on, he knew there was off about the woman, not to mention Mako and Hammerhead, they were all sharply aware of their surrounding to the point that if he didn't know better he would think they were ninja trained.

Amos chuckled as he set the twin's drinks down in front of them, he thought that Miss Merry was just what the man in white needed, and vice versa, of course he was something of a hopeless romantic and a rather successful matchmaker probably had something to do with it as well. With that in mind he headed for Storm Shadow's table, he knew who and what the man was, he also knew that he was a good man, out of all of Cobra he and Zartan were the only ones that could be even remotely trusted. He knew this would be a bit of a gamble, but he had a gut feeling about this, "You're interested in the lassie, but I think you need fair warning," he told the surprised ninja, "She has a large family and they will not take kindly to anyone hurting her, but if the lassie chooses you, well, you will have gotten yourself a powerful ally that very few could claim." "Why are you telling me something like this," Tommy asked, honestly wondering what was going on here, Amos chuckled, "Might be that I have a bit of matchmaking in me," he admitted, "But I think you could do with someone like the lassie in your life and the lassie could do with something like you in her life, just go over and introduce yourself, won't hurt nothing to try." "Thanks," Tommy nodded to the man, before getting to his feet, "I think I will," he slipped over to the table that held the woman, Mako, and Hammerhead, "Mind if I join you, Hammerhead, Mako," he asked, siting down with them.

"Not at all," Carlos shrugged, "Don't call me Hammerhead when I'm off duty like this though, the name is Carlos," Tommy nodded, "So long as you call me Tommy what about you Mako," "My name is Andros, but I'm sure you already knew that," Andros snorted. "Tora this is Tommy, also known as Storm Shadow," Carlos preformed the introductions, "Tommy this is our cousin, Merry," "Merry huh," Tommy looked at her, "Not really, my given name is Meredith, but everyone has called me Merry as long as we can remember," Merry corrected him. "Nice to meet you then Merry," Tommy grinned at her, Merry felt herself start to blush again, Andros and Carlos exchanged looks, realizing they would have to have a little talk with Tommy the first chance they got, he wasn't going to love and leave Merry like all the other women in his life. Both Tommy and Merry spotted the look that passed between the twins and realized what it meant, they both heaved a sigh, surprising them both and making them grin at each other, but that sigh broke the ice between them and it wasn't long before they were talking like old friends.

* * *

><p>"Maybe I'll see you again Tommy," Merry waved goodbye to Tommy who grinned at her and nodded, "Maybe," he agreed and watched her walk out of the bar, "Alright Tommy," Andros said sternly, "We need to step outside and have a little talk." Tommy sighed but he walked out to the ally with the twins, "I'm not going to warn you about hurting Merry," Carlos told him, "If you hurt her, she will be the one to make you bleed for it," "Really," Tommy murmured, "I have noticed that you two and her hide much." Andros and Carlos both hummed a moment, exchanging looks, they knew that Tommy was a good man, that he could be trusted, "Let me put it this way, my family, they are no friends to Cobra," Carlos told Tommy softly. "And who are they," Tommy murmured softly, thinking he might have found some allies, in answer Andros and Carlos started to hum the tune to Hoist the Colors, they knew Tommy would recognize it. He came from a ninja clan that was three thousand years old, he would know about the Brethren of the Seas, hell, knowing the Arashikage, they had probably worked with the Brethren before in some form or another.<p>

"You belong to the sea," Tommy stated, they nodded, "Our last name isn't Gripper, but rather Barbossa," Andros revealed softly, Tommy recognized that name instantly, he inhaled sharply, "You belong to the Black Fleet of the Brethren, the immortal ones," he breathed. Carlos and Andros nodded, "Aye we do," Carlos smirked at him, "Merry's last name is Sparrow, so you better think twice about hurting her, Uncle Jack might be a fool, but he is an enemy that very few can afford to have and that's not counting Aunt Willa, Tora, Brian, the crew, and the rest of the family." "I know the stories," Tommy agreed, "But why are two of the Brethren legendary elite doing in Cobra, you are there as spies," "We are," Andros nodded, they knew that Tommy really wasn't happy to be working for Cobra, but he had signed a contract, given his word, he would not go back on his word until Cobra did something that violated their agreement. "I can assume that you have people in the Joes as well can't I," Tommy said after a moment, figuring that what the Cobra Command didn't know wouldn't hurt them, "Two, well really three if you count Snake Eyes," Carlos smirked.

"What," Tommy sputtered, he hadn't been expecting that, "Deep Six is one of yours as well," "His last name is Norrington," Andros shrugged, "And Wet Suit is Merry's younger brother, Brian's wife works with the CIA, all to keep an eye on Cobra." "Impressive," Tommy had to admit, "Cobra is no friend to the Brethren and if push comes to shove I will side with you against them," Carlos and Andros nodded, surprised by that, but they had gotten more than they had expected from Tommy. "How did you hide this," Tommy couldn't help asking, "The Joes do extensive background checks," "Of course, we have hackers and such ourselves," Andros shrugged, "But it wasn't there work that gave our people their fake identities, I believe you know of the name Tia Dalma, though she is better known as Calypso." Tommy gulped, he knew exactly who that was and he had no intention of getting on the bad side of a goddess, "I won't move against the Brethren, not when she has involved herself in such a manner," he muttered.


	11. The Trickster's Vanishing Act

Loki sighed, he knew he couldn't stay at Asgard much longer, he didn't really remember what he did before he had fallen into the Void, but he knew what he had done and everyone at Asgard was constantly throwing it in his face and he knew he couldn't take it much longer. He knew he had to do something or he would become exactly what he had been before, the only one who didn't hold his past against him was Thor, his foster brother, it was Thor who had given him a second chance. Thor had brought him back as a child to get him a chance at being a real kid again, but when Odin and the others on Asgard had found out they hadn't been happy, if it hadn't been for Thor's protection he was pretty sure he would have been killed. It hadn't taken him long to figure out he might have to pull a runner and he had made arrangements accordingly with an old friend who had been pleased to help him and had made arrangements for him to stay among her favored. He shouldered his backpack and looked around his rooms, they were spotless, everything he owned was inside the backpack, all that was left for him to do was say good-bye to Thor, the only one who gave a damn about him.

Thor grumbled as he went through his paperwork in his office, sometimes being the heir to the throne was a pain in the ass, but he did his paperwork promptly unlike his father who put it off as much as he could. He sighed as he affixed his seal to the document, he was worried about Loki, he had brought him back from the Void because he knew that Loki had been given a raw deal, thanks to his time as Donald Blake he knew that all of Asgard had only themselves to blame for what Loki had become. He had wanted to give his little brother a second chance, one that he felt was more than owed to Loki, personally he was very suspicious of his father's motives for taking in Loki as his foster son, then never telling Loki who his parents were. He was willing to bet Mjolnir that his father had something planed for his little brother and he was pretty sure that it wouldn't be something that Loki wanted, or be something that would make him happy. Sighing he grabbed a blank sheet of paper, he was going to get his brother out of Asgard, Jane had room enough and he could reopen Donald's medical practice, she wouldn't mind putting them up, she would pester them with questions about Asgard the moment they arrived.

"Thor," he looked up to see Loki walk into his office with a backpack over his shoulder, instantly he knew something was up, "What is it Loki," he asked, "I need to leave Asgard," Loki told him bluntly, "And I've already made arrangements about where I can go so no one can find me." "What," Thor said alarmed, "I know its a good idea for you to leave Asgard, hell, I was about to talk to you about taking you to Midgard where I would reopen Donald's medical practice, so you could have a chance to really be a kid." "You were going to do that for me," Loki said surprised, Thor nodded, "Now tell me what you're planning little brother," Thor said sternly, "And how you'll keep Heimdall from finding you, once mother and father notice you gone they will look for you to bring you back by force." "Simple," Loki smirked, "I asked an old friend for help, even if they manage to find me there they wouldn't dare come after me without getting permission to enter her domain," "Loki," Thor said warily, knowing that there was only one person he could be talking about and she always made him nervous. "What Thor," Loki demanded, "Not even Odin Allfather would risk angering Calypso, he can't afford that, besides I've renounced any claim I have with Odin and Frigga, along with my place in the succession, I put the letter on Odin's desk with his paperwork."

"And knowing father it will be at least three days before he gets to it and even then he'll sign and seal it before he even looks at it," Thor grumbled under his breath, but then he looked at Loki and returned to more important matters. "I'll not tell anyone about you leaving until father and mother discover it," Thor promised, "I won't even tell them where you've gone, but in return you have to keep in contact with me regularly and I want to know where Calypso is sending you." "I promise to keep in touch Thor," Loki laughed, "As for where I'm going, well," "He's going to one of me favored," Calypso appeared in the office in all her glory, "Among me Brethren there is the Black Fleet, they have sailed me seas for centuries. Among them there is one ship that sails with a child of ten years, them is who I send Loki to, they have already agreed to take him in, they will treat him as they would a child of their own blood, he will be happy there." "Fine," Thor growled, before giving Loki a quick hug before stepping back, slightly embarrassed, Loki looked at Calypso, "Can you send me to the _Opal_ now," he asked, since if he used his power for this it would be like sending up a signal flare, Calypso nodded and Loki vanished from Asgard.

"Will they treat him well," Thor demanded, "I don't want whoever it is your sending him to to treat him my like parents did, once was more than enough," "They won't," Calypso assured him, "In all the centuries they have sailed me seas, never has a child been ill-done by them. Pirates and scoundrels they be, danger there will be, but no harm will come to little Loki if they can help it and if he is harmed they will seek vengeance, vengeance that will be as swift and terrible as me own, for none are allowed to harm those they call kin and get away with it." "That shouldn't reassure me, but it dose," Thor couldn't help muttering, Calypso smiled in response and a book appeared in her hands, she gave it to Thor. "Read it," she told him, "Read it and learn of who I sent Loki to, with the Sparrow's he will find a true home, the Black Fleet will see him safe, I will visit and tell you how he is doing," then she vanished. Thor looked at the book in his hands, it was fairly thick and bound in black leather and had a ship flying a pirate flag embossed on the cover, sighing he set the book down and set about finishing his paperwork. Thankfully it didn't take him long, once he was finished he got up and grabbed the book Calypso had given him and headed for his rooms to relax and start reading, the book had detailed and colored illustrations on every other page, he was curious as to what he would learn. The Midgard that Calypso ruled was another one from the Midgard that Odin had banished him to, he had never really paid attention to the other Midgard's out there and now he was starting to wish he had. He found a inscription on the first page, '_As their adventures happen, as marriages and children are born, as new people join the family of the Black Fleet, this book and the others like it will update itself magically, my gift to the Black Fleet, this is their chronicle, so say I Calypso, goddess of the sea_,' he smiled slightly as he read that.

* * *

><p>Loki laughed as he and Sandra dived off the cliff into the clear water below, he was having the time of his life with the Black Fleet, they accepted him with no questions asked, they didn't care about what he did in the past. Here he wasn't treated differently like he had been in Asgard, to them he was just a kid who had a lot of firepower and had drawn a bad hand in life, something they could all relate to, they had gotten raw deals before as well. He wasn't away of Bryce and Belle watching him and Sandra, "Its wrong, what was done to him," Belle murmured to her husband, "They claimed he was as one of their own, but that was a flat out lie, they held him up against Thor and found him lacking, they drove him to do all he did. Thor had the right idea when he brought him back, but the Asgard was wrong treating him like as they were, trying to make him something he wasn't, if he hadn't left he would have become a monster." "Aye," Bryce agreed, "But Sandra is teaching him to have fun, we will give him a childhood, he will learn what a real family is like," Belle nodded in agreement and then grinned mischievously, shoving Bryce off the cliff into the water below. Belle laughed as Bryce surfaced before diving in after him, starting a splash war between them all, Loki was laughing, his eyes bright and cheerful as he splashed the water at them, having more fun than ever before.<p>

* * *

><p>Odin blinked and frowned as he recognized the handwriting on the document he had just signed and sealed, "Loki," he growled, wondering what his son had done now, with his seal and signature whatever it was would be impossible to overturn. He read the document and got to his feet, running to Frigga's rooms, where she was busy with household matters, he was sure she could tell him the meaning of this, "Frigga, read this," he snapped, shoving the document at her, his wife blinked at him and took the letter. She paled as she read it, "Impossible," she cried, "I don't believe it," "Believe it," Odin retorted, "Did you know anything about this," "Of course not," she snapped at him, "I would have told you if I had known, perhaps we should speak with Thor about this, he is the only one who Loki might tell anything." "Very true," Odin agreed, "I thought things were a bit quiet," together they went to Thor's office, knowing he was going to leave soon enough to visit Jane in Midgard again, "Thor where is Loki," Odin yelled as they burst into his son's office, "Where has he gone?"<p>

"Oh you finally noticed that Loki's gone, it only took you, what, three weeks," Thor said mockingly to his parents, disgusted by them, they might not be on good terms with Loki, but really it had been three weeks since he had left and the only reason they had discover he was gone was because of his letter severing ties with Odin and Frigga, along with the throne. Odin purpled as his anger started to get the best of him, "Watch your tone Thor," he growled the warning, while Frigga was quiet, suddenly realizing that she had failed as a mother, among other things. "No I will not father," Thor yelled, speaking his mind, "You drove Loki away, he left so he wouldn't become what he was before, which you and all of Asgard can be blamed for, you treated him like he was always second best, never seeing him as his own person. Its no wonder he did all he did, nothing he did was good enough for you and you constantly compared him to me, never giving him an encouraging word, or even a kind look, everything he did was because of your and all of Asgard's TREATMENT OF HIM."

Thor finally stopped, gasping for breath as he vented his rage over this whole mess on his father, upon whom much of the blame rested on anyways, both Odin and Frigga's stared at Thor in shock, never expecting him to do something like that to them. "Where is he Thor," Frigga asked, breaking the silence that had formed, "Where is my son," "Oh now you call him your son," Thor said bitterly, "A little to late for that mother, a little to late." "Do you even know where he went," Odin demanded, still reeling from the shock of Thor's rant, "Yes, where he has gone, you cannot follow," Thor told his father, "And I won't tell you where he went, why should I, after all, you lost any right to know centuries ago. All I will tell you is that he has gone to a place where his past won't be thrown in his face every day by people who are to blame for molding him into the man responsible for the crimes he committed, he has gone to a place where he will be treated like the child he is." "Will he be happy there," Frigga asked, realizing they had greatly wronged Loki, "I have assurances that he will be happy," Thor sighed deeply, "And that is all I care about mother, after everything Loki deserves it." "Yes he dose," she admitted, tears gathering in her eyes, "You won't know how much you will miss or need my brother until he has left," Thor spat at Odin, "You forget he is needed, for without change and chaos we will stagnate, if he chooses to return it will be on his terms," Odin nodded wearily, finally starting to understand.


	12. Seeking Haven

"Sensei," Billie whispered in shock as the door to her cell was unlocked, "Hush Billie," Tommy hissed at her, "I've made some arrangements, now come on," Billie nodded and together they slipped through the shadows of the Cobra base until they were clear of it. "Come on," Tommy motioned for her to follow him to where a battered old truck was hidden, "Listen, I can give you directions to the nearest town, once you reach it, ditch and torch the truck, do everything you can to erase your presence from it." "What then," Billie asked, "I have no money or belongings," "Go to the run-down tavern by the docks that's run by old Amos, the backyard is a massive junkyard," Tommy continued his instructions, "Once there tell old Amos you are seeking haven, he will ask if you need a drink of pirate rum, nod and drink it. He'll hide you and contact some friends of mine and they will come for you and I can promise they are no friends of your father, go with them and sail the seas, free and wild, you'll be safe from your father with them." "But," Billie protested, "I know you want to strike your own blows against your father and I agree with you completely," Tommy told her sternly, "He lost any right to be a father the moment he murdered your mother and used you as a disposable pawn. Those that will give you haven have clashed with Cobra before, they are the pirates who give your father more headaches than the Joes, you'll get your chance for vengeance if you sail with them."

Billie nodded slowly, "Thanks sensei," she told him, Tommy grinned at her, "Its no problem Billie," he told his apprentice, "Don't worry, we'll see each other regularly, Merry is my girl, now go." Billie scrambled into the truck and started it, relieved to find the engine wouldn't give her any trouble, "Here," Tommy handed her a small piece of paper, "Your directions," she took it and drove off, easily deciphering the code the directions were written in. Biting her lip she knew she had to trust Tommy, which she did with her life, but still, she had been ninja trained and that meant trust was in rare supply, but this was her chance to strike back at her hated father. She knew of the trouble that the pirates of the world gave him and the Cobra organization as a whole, none of them would willingly help Cobra and in fact many went out of their way to make trouble for them, something she respected a great deal, especially given their success. It was several hours of driving before she reached the city, pulling off the road into a area that was deserted she doused the truck in gasoline from a canister and lit a match, she watched the truck burn long enough to be assured all evidence of her being there would be destroyed then made her way into town.

* * *

><p>Billie sighed and sipped the rum that old Amos had given her, once he was sure she was the real deal he had ushered her into a room hidden beneath the bar itself, the entrance Amos had used was hidden by the counter itself, gave her some food and drink and told her to wait. She didn't really try to keep track of time as she slept and whittled away time, though she had exploded the room and found it was actually an small complex of rooms and appeared to be ideal for smuggling and lord knows what else. It was actually fairly comfortable, the room she mainly stayed in had a rough, though comfortable, bed, a table and a couple of chairs, and a small toilet and sink in a small side room, she had been in worse places. She stiffened as she heard a faint rattling sound, she reached for her knife and braced herself for trouble, fearing that her father may have found her, she only relaxed marginally when Amos walked in the room, clearly using another entrance, and followed by three strangely dressed people. She looked at them, noting they were dressed like pirates would have been centuries ago, it was clear to her that the man with the tricorned hat and the only woman were a couple, their body language just screamed it to anyone who had been trained to read body language.<p>

Billie looked at the other man who Amos had brought with him, he was handsome enough she thought, tall and lean, with pale skin, curly black hair, and then their eyes met and everything else ceased to exist for her, but his startlingly black eyes. Will looked over the girl that Tommy had sent to them for haven, she was pretty enough, tan skin, long brown hair, but she had startlingly purple eyes, eyes he couldn't look away from for some reason. Willa and Jack looked at the two in front of them, knowing that Will and the girl had completely forgotten they weren't alone, "This is going to be interesting," Jack grinned, "I believe I am looking at my future sister-in-law," Willa agreed, Amos laughed in amusement. "Break it up lovebirds," Jack said loudly, clapping his hands, that jerked them back to reality and the girl instantly blushed fire-engine red, "Now I'd like and name and why you are asking for haven with us." "My names Billie Kessler," Billie explained, "Cobra Commander is my father, Tommy took me as his apprentice a while back and I've been slipping information about Cobra to the Joes for over a year now. I never liked what my dad did for a living, but the straw that broke the camels back was when he killed mother, I started getting information to the Joes after that, he finally found out I was a leak. I was placed in a cell, but sensei got me out and told me to come here and ask for haven, that you were no friends to Cobra," "I see," Jack murmured, "Your welcome to come with us Billie Kessler," Willa told her.

"I think I'd like that," Billie agreed, "But who are you, all sensei would tell me is that you all are pirates," "Well that is a rather long story," Jack told her, "One I'm sure Will here would be glad to tell you, but right now we need to get to the _Pearl_, so come along." Billie got to her feet and followed them into a long tunnel, that when they finally exited found herself in a small cove where a old fashioned sail rigged ship was, "The _Black Pearl_," Willa said proudly, "One of the fastest ships to ever to sail the seas." Billie shook her head, but didn't say anything, "Don't worry," Will told her, "Looks are very deceiving, you'll understand soon enough," Billie got in the long boat with them and they started rowing to the ship. Billie had no idea of what in the hell was going on, but she knew that Tommy wouldn't steer her wrong on this, she would just have to tread water until she could learn how to swim, but she just knew that this felt right to her.


	13. Restless Sleep

_ The East India Trading Company flag flew in the wind over Port Royal as lines of men and women were being led to the gallows, hanging seven at time, Willa watching in horror as the nooses were fitting around their necks. "In order to affect a timely halt to deteriorating conditions and to ensure the common good a state of emergency has been declared by decree of Lord Cutler Beckett, duly appointed representative of his Majesty the King," a officer in the uniform of the East India Company read from a paper he held, "By decree according to martial law the following statutes are temporarily amended. Right to assembly, suspended," the hangman opened the trap door, seven pairs of feet dangled in the air, "Right to habeus corpus, suspended," another seven pairs of feet hung in the air, "Right to legal counsel suspended," another seven people met their deaths, "Right to verdict by a jury of peers, suspended," another seven lives were claimed. Seven more people walked up the stairs and stood at a noose, the last person to climb the stairs broke Willa's heart, it was a cabin boy of about ten years, she already knew what would happen, as she watched the boy look up at the noose that was a good three feet above his head._

_"By decree, all persons found guilty of piracy, or aiding a person convicted of piracy, or associating with a person convicted of piracy shall be hanged by the neck until dead," the officer finished reading the paper he held. Willa wanted to scream for them to stop, but she found she couldn't make a sound as she watched the boy turn a piece of eight over in his hand before he looked up at the noose once more, clearly having decided something._

"_The king and his men stole the queen from her bed_

_And bound her in her bones_

_By the powers the seas be ours_

_And were we will, we'll roam,"_

_The boy sang, softly at first, so softly you could barely hear him, but as he continued his voice got louder as he found his courage until his clear and high voice echoed through the suddenly silent courtyard._

"_Yo ho, all hands,_

_Hoist the color's high,"_

_Another man on the gallows took up the song after a long moment of silence, his voice rusty and hard to hear as he gathered his courage, just as the boy had done, they had nothing left to lose by this after all._

"_Heave ho, thieves and beggars,_

_Never shall we die,"_

_The rest of those on the gallows joined in singing, as those waiting in line to be hung raised their heads and started to sway slightly as they stood before they started to stomp out a steady beat and rattle their chains._

"_Yo ho, haul together,_

_Hoist the colors high_

_Heave ho, thieves and beggars,_

_Never shall we die,"_

_They all snag the song as loudly as they could, stomping their feet in time with the rhythm, glaring at the guards, who pointed their muskets at them as they started to get very nervous as an unnatural wind rose in the courtyard of the fort. The wind carried the pirate's song into the town of Port Royal where everyone stopped what they were doing to listen, the last thing Willa heard was the high and clear voice of the cabin boy as the trapdoor opened under him._

"No," Willa jerked away with a muffled shout, gasping for breath as she got her bearings, forcing herself to realize she was away, "Willa, what's wrong," Jack asked her, worried, this was the fifth time in a row that she had woken in such a manner and her sleep was restless as well, what little sleep she got anyways. Willa didn't answer him as she slipped out of bed and threw some clothes on, walking to the window, Jack frowned and grabbed a pair of pants, putting them on before walking over to his wife, "Willa," he asked, gently grabbing her shoulder, "What's wrong, thats the fifth time in a row you've woken screaming." "Twice in our living memory has the song been sung," Willa said softly, "Now I fear it will be sung once more, my dreams are troubled, in them I see Beckett hanging members of the Brethren in Port Royal, I see Hans and his crew singing Hoist the Colors with their dying breaths, I fear what this means for our future." Jack was silent as he wrapped his arms around Willa, trying to warm her, her skin was ice cold, there really wasn't anything he could tell her to make things better, if the Brethren Court went to war they would be the ones leading it with the rest of the Black Fleet.


	14. A Brief Glimpse of Hilarity

Heimdall frowned as he tried to locate Loki again, there was a flash as Calypso appeared in front of him, "What are you doing here," he demanded, the sea goddess was not very well liked on Asgard, she was a wild card and you never knew how she would react to something, which was probably why she and Loki got along so well. "Do ye not want to know of little Loki," she laughed at him, as Thor appeared, having felt her arrival, "Why are you here Calypso," he sighed, "Father and mother will have sensed you, since you didn't try to conceal your presence this time." "Hump," Calypso snorted as Odin and Frigga appeared, Odin in full armor, "I wanted them to sense me Thor," she snapped, then smirked at Odin and Frigga, "Do ye want want to know of little Loki or not," she smirked. "Where is he," Frigga demanded, "Where is my son," "Well and happy," Calypso answered and waved her hand, a shimmering circle appeared and a moment later it revealed Loki with another child, an older man, and a young woman. "Who are they," Odin demanded, "The man is Amos, the girl child is Sandra, and I'm not sure who the woman is," Thor answered, "She is Tora Sparrow," Calypso smiled fondly at the woman, "Daughter of two of me favorites, Witty Jack for a father and Storm Eyed Willa for a mother, watch and see."

* * *

><p>"You want some more iron wall decorations for the tavern Amos," Tora said, "I brought my tools, but why do you want them," "Trouble's coming, I can feel it in my bones," Amos shook his head, "Hide as many knives and swords as you can in them." "I know what you mean," Tora sighed, "Mom's been having some dreams and she thinks the song will be sung for a third time," Amos couldn't help making an old sailors gesture to ward off evil and bad luck, he knew exactly what that meant. "I pray that won't happen," he sighed, then looked at Loki and Sandra, "You two go play out back, the go-kart is there, just make sure to wear helmets and goggles, tinker all you want with whatever you find," Loki and Sandra cheered and ran out back to the junkyard. Tora and Amos followed them, Tora shook her head as Loki and Sandra got into the go-kart they had found and fixed up, altering it so it could seat two people, they loved nothing more than exploring the junkyard and messing with the stuff they found. They had actually managed to build a functioning chicken cannon, the bane of Amos's chickens, she went over to the makeshift forge and started a fire in it, using a bit of magic to make it heat to the correct temperature quickly. "Why do you and your sister dress the same," Amos asked, he had always wondered about that, "You and Merry might be twins, but you don't look alike, not like Malcolm and Mulan," "I guess it was just something that we liked to do, despite the fact we don't look it we are twins after all," Tora shrugged, really the only difference in the way she and Merry dressed was that instead of a gold sash and bandanna, hers were a silver.<p>

Tora pulled off her pistols, since they would get her in way, Amos handed her the iron he had foraged from his junk piles, she went to work with her hammer and tongs, bending it into decorative shapes, but also shapes that would easily hide knives and even swords among the designs. She sang under her breath as she worked, then Amos gave her a request, "Sing me Homeward Bound lassie," he called to her, he knew she had a lovely singing voice, "Alright," Tora agreed and started to sing the old sea song.

"_Our anchor we'll weigh,  
>And our sails we will set.<em>  
><em>Goodbye, fare-ye-well,<br>Goodbye, fare-ye-well.  
><em>_The friends we are leaving,  
>We leave with regret,<em>  
><em>Hurrah, my boys, we're homeward bound.<br>_  
><em>We're homeward bound,<br>Oh joyful sound!_  
><em>Goodbye, fare-ye-well,<br>Goodbye, fare-ye-well.  
><em>_Come rally the capstan,  
>And run quick around.<em>  
><em>Hurrah, my boys, we're homeward bound.<br>_  
><em>We're homeward bound<br>We'd have you know_  
><em>Goodbye, fare-ye-well,<br>Goodbye, fare-ye-well.  
><em>_And over the water  
>To England must go,<em>  
><em>Hurrah, my boys, we're homeward bound.<br>_  
><em>Heave with a will,<br>And heave long and strong,_  
><em>Goodbye, fare-ye-well,<br>Goodbye, fare-ye-well.  
><em>_Sing a good chorus  
>For 'tis a good song.<em>  
><em>Hurrah, my boys, we're homeward bound.<br>_  
><em>Hurrah! that good run<br>Brought the anchor a-weigh,_  
><em>Goodbye, fare-ye-well,<br>Goodbye, fare-ye-well.  
><em>_She's up to the hawse,  
>Sing before we belay.<em>  
><em>Hurrah, my boys, we're homeward bound.<br>_  
><em>'We're homeward bound,'<br>You've heard us say,_  
><em>Goodbye, fare-ye-well,<br>Goodbye, fare-ye-well.  
><em>_Hook on the cat fall then,  
>And rut her away.<em>  
><em>Hurrah, my boys, we're homeward bound."<em>

Amos grinned as Tora finished the song, "Ah, you've a good singing voice, just like your grandmother," he couldn't help compliment her, Tora only grinned and turned her attention back to her work, subtlety stiffening. "Trouble," she murmured softly, Amos was barely able to hear her, but a quick glance showed a gang of local troublemakers making their way towards them, he sighed and shook his head, that bunch had been pushing his boundaries lately. "Aye, young bloods," he grumbled, "Think because they're young and tough everyone ought to do as they say, fools the lot of them," Tora nodded and started to whistle. It was a simple three tones and a wind whipped up and carried the whistle deep into the junkyard to where ever Sandra and Loki were, warning them that trouble was coming, if a fight broke out they wouldn't stumble onto it unprepared. Amos sighed and got to his feet, he had a sword tucked away where the idiots wouldn't see it, he had sailed with Teague and Ariel for over fifty years before opening his tavern here, he had just about seen it all and survived it, these young idiots would learn that just because he was old that didn't mean he couldn't kick their ass.

"Hey old man, who's the hot babe," the supposed leader of the gang of twenty idiots demanded rudely, "Way out of your league boy," Amos growled, Tora rolled her eyes, as if she would give jerks like this a second look, hell, she wouldn't give them a first look. "I think you're needing a lesson as to who is in charge here," the leader growled, waltzing over to Tora and grabbing her arm, "Hey babe, how about we head off and have some time to ourselves," he started to pull her arm. Tora narrowed her eyes and refused to budge, "Thems fightin' words," she said softly as she whirled around and punch the idiot hard enough to where he fell back, she glared at him and his gang, "And that goes for anyone else with the same ideas," she warned them. The leader got to his feet, pissed off that he had shamed by a girl in front of his gang, a knife appearing in his hand, "Get them," he snarled as he lunged forward, only to find that Tora and Amos were a step ahead of them. Tora reached back and picked up her hammer and started to wield it expertly as the gang attacked her, Amos brought out his sword and was holding his own, since they were aiming to hurt instead of kill.

Everyone looked up when they heard a horn honking, them a moment later the go-kart barreled into view with Loki driving it, Sandra was waving around what appeared to be a cattle prod, but with those two you could never be sure. The gang members yelled as Loki turned the go-kart into a battering ram, plowing right into the middle of the gang, then they gang members started screaming as Sandra landed blows with her stick, which was a cattle prod, but apparently it had been souped up to be three times stronger than a regular cattle prod. As quick as they arrived they were gone, Loki was hell on wheels behind the wheel, Amos cackled as they looked at the gang members left standing, there were only seven left standing, "Uh-oh," Amos muttered as he saw what Loki and Sandra were doing now. He rushed over and Tora smirked at the gang members, who were starting to look like they were seriously reconsidering their course of action, she moved and quickly disabled two more of the gang, who now bunched together in an effort to fend her off, they realized she swung a mean hammer.

"Not Pennie," Amos yelled, grabbing the chicken from Loki, who had been about to load her into the chicken cannon, "She's my best egg layer, use the rooster, he's a retired cock fighter," Loki cackled and grabbed the rooster and shoved him into the cannon. Sandra grinned and took aim at the gang members, "Fire when ready," Loki laughed, right as Amos yelled, "Incoming," to Tora, Sandra pulled the trigger of the chicken cannon, which was powered by a small air compressor tank. With an unholy crow the rooster was ejected from the cannon, right into the midst of the gang members, who suddenly found themselves running for their lives from a chicken, Tora was laughing her ass off. "The cops are going to get a good laugh out of this," Amos observed, before he broke out into laughter as his rooster kicked the gang members asses, Loki and Sandra were grinning broadly as they watched, they had a lot of fun with this. Tora shook her head and looked at Amos, "Where's your rope, the cops might appreciate having them tied up all nice when they get here," she said, "Of course," Amos quickly agreed, getting what she really meant, if there was one thing a sailor knew it was how to tie knots.

Once the gang members were tied up tightly Tora looked at Loki and Sandra, "Next time please don't use Amos's best egg layer when you use the chicken cannon, why did you even build that thing anyways," she asked, "Tv," they both answered promptly, "Of course," she sighed, "I think the cops will love the tape of this, they'll probably add it to the collection." "Hey, look," they heard a yell, "They've got Andy and his boys, get them," a group of about twelve other guys came running towards them, "Time for the heavy artillery," Loki grinned, "Daisy, come here girl, where are you girl?" Amos started to cackle like an evil genius while Tora looked like she was remaining silent only by an act of supreme will power as a skunk trundled out from a little tunnel in the junkyard, "Time to make them scream like little girls," Sandra crowed. Loki gently picked up Daisy the skunk and loaded her into the chicken cannon, which was only named that because chickens were usually the only ammo it was loaded with except for special occasions such as this. "Ready, aim, and fire," Amos bellowed at the top of his lungs, Sandra was grinning ear to ear as she fired the cannon, Daisy rocketing out of the cannon and landing on the leader's face, at first he didn't realize what had hit him.

The idiot made the mistake of grabbing Daisy so that her belly was facing him, shrill screams filled the air as the idiots realized exactly what had been fired at them, as Daisy opened fire on them, several screamed like little girls as they ran, while the others fainted from the experience. A moment later the cops pulled up as Daisy marched indignantly back into the junkyard, slightly miffed that the idiot had grabbed her as rudely as he had, the cops got out of their cars and cringed at the smell. "They pulled out the big guns," one couldn't help saying, it was a well known fact that you didn't give Amos any trouble, he would reply in turn, only whatever he did to you would be a thousand times worse than what you had done. Of course those incidents were the prize of the police station, Amos had a crack security system installed and the security cameras outside and inside, always made sure they could watch what happened, despite the run down appearance of the place. Amos was always kind enough to give them copies of the incidents, the man was a local legend, not to mention he had been around forever, hell, some folks said the man was immortal and frankly most everyone thought he was, they just never said anything about it.

"Amos can we get copies of this," the cop asked, "The other boys down at the station will love watching this, we have a wagon coming for idiots, you would think they would learn that they can't get one over you by now, I mean this is the tenth time something has happened since I joined the force eight years ago." "Yes, well, I can't help it the world is filled with idiots Jimmy," Amos sighed, Jimmy shook his head as he and the others started looking over the hogtied fools, "What the hell happened to them," he couldn't help asking. "My rooster, Sandra with a souped up cattle prod, Loki with the go-kart, me with my sword, and Tora with her hammer," Amos told them proudly, "Isn't your rooster a former champion cock fighter," one of the cops asked, "Yep," Amos answered with a wide grin. Several of the cops burst into laughter, while Jimmy looked over the idiots that Tora had dealt with, "Where the hell did you learn to use a hammer like this," he demanded, "Who better than a blacksmith to use a hammer as a weapon," Tora asked him, "Amos had asked me to do a couple more wall decorations for him."

* * *

><p>Thor was bent over he was laughing so hard, Heimdall wasn't much better off, Odin was chuckling while Frigga was smiling, Calypso smirked, "Little Loki found a place where he could be himself, they don't try to change what makes him Loki, but accept it and not scorn and scold him for it," she told them, making a deliberate dig at how he had been treated among Asgardians. Frigga flinched and Odin glared at Calypso. "Trouble be coming for me Brethren," Calypso told Thor, who sobered instantly, "The Black Fleet will lead them into battle, me know the fool who tries to take what is there's will be in for a big surprise, he knows nothing of what they be capable of when their fury and anger is roused." Then Calypso vanished, Odin turned to look at Thor, "Who is this Black Fleet," he demanded, "Why did she send Loki to them," "They are immortals," Thor shrugged, "Though they can be killed if you try hard enough. They're pirates and scoundrels according to Calypso, but they've never harmed a child and if anything is done to one of their's they will seek vengeance, bloody vengeance, and make no mistake about it, they claim Loki as one of their's, which us more than you all did, despite what you may say."<p> 


	15. Never Get on the Monkey's Bad Side

Monkey Jack was visiting Amos's bar with Jaybird and Barbossa, he was sipping his own rum from the monkey sized cup that Amos had produced when trouble walked through the door, Dreadnoks, and to make matters worse they were armed. Amos sighed knowing he would have to kick them out at some point in the near future, the Dreadnoks rarely came to his tavern, since they knew he would kick them out if they got rowdy, as a result the tended to avoid the tavern, though Zartan was something of a regular. Amos glared at them, "You don't make any trouble or I will kick you out," he warned them, though he knew it would do no good, these boys were dumber then dirt, he wondered how Zartan even managed to deal with them without trying to kill them at some point. Jaybird and Barbossa shared a look with each other, discreetly checking their weapons and taking note of all the iron wall decoration pieces Amos had scattered all over the tavern walls, each of them disguised at least four knives and one sword in the design. Amos had centuries to create ways to hide weapons in plain sight, he was a pirate, a member of the Black Fleet, he knew what it meant to be prepared for trouble better than almost anyone, you had to be ready for trouble when you sailed with a Sparrow, or someone with Sparrow blood.

Amos brought the Dreadnoks their drinks and returned to manning the bar, rather glad that his help had called in sick, he doubted that he could handle the Dreadnoks when, not if, they got rowdy. The man had only been working for him for a month now and despite the fact that he had been a pirate, he wasn't quite ready to deal with the chaos that came when you had to deal with either the Dreadnoks or the Black Fleet. Monkey Jack finished his rum and walked down the bar to Amos and held out his cup for a refill, Amos snorted and refilled the cup, then he noted the direction of the monkey's gaze, Monkey Jack was watching the Dreadnoks, he groaned, he knew this wouldn't end well. It was well known that the monkey got into more trouble than Jack Sparrow himself and that was saying something, though to be fair the monkey could hold his own, he had a small pouch that had been spelled to hold all manner of things, such as explosives of several kinds. Not to mention the monkey and Loki got on like a house on fire and that was enough to scare the shit out of anyone, the trouble the two of them could get into, Amos hung his head as his fears were realized, Monkey Jack was heading over to the Dreadnoks.

"What the," Ripper said as he realized he and the others had company, they all stared at the monkey sitting on their table drinking something from a small cup, "Monkey," Road Pig yelled, pointing, swatting away Monkey Jack's rum. Monkey Jack stared in horror at the small puddle of rum on the table top, but soon he had other problems as Torch brought out his flamethrower and opened fire, Monkey Jack screamed as he found himself dodging streams of flames coming towards him. That was enough for Barbossa, he lurched to his feet and pulled his pistol, Jaybird doing the same, they both fired and instantly the Dreadnoks froze, staring at them, the two were an imposing sight as Monkey Jack scrambled to safety on Barbossa's shoulder. "Ye not be messing with me monkey now would ye," Barbossa rumbled dangerously, Jaybird grinned at the Dreadnoks, though it could really be considered more a baring of teeth, as one the Dreadnoks gulped. "No, why would we do that," Buzzer gulped as they all started to edge for the door, if there was one thing they knew it was to recognize stone cold killers when they saw them, and these two were exactly that, they bolted for the door. Barbossa looked at Monkey Jack, he grinned, "Have fun," was all he said, Monkey Jack grinned and jumped from his shoulder and ran after the Dreadnoks, "Ye a bad, bad man Captain Barbossa," Amos could help saying, shaking his head, "Them poor Dreadnoks," Barbossa and Jaybird only laughed in response.

* * *

><p>Monkey Jack was grinning like a loon as he observed the Dreadnoks from a ventilation shaft, he had hitched a ride on one of their motorcycles to a Cobra base, he had spotted Andros and Carlos, but hadn't revealed himself to him. Currently the Dreadnoks were chowing down on something from the cafeteria, but not before he had managed to dose Torch and Road Pig's portions with what was possibly the strongest laxative known to mankind. He grinned as he watched the two suddenly stop eating and dash out of the cafeteria, he followed them as best he could, knowing exactly where they would go, he had managed to make sure all the other restrooms were out of order, he had rigged every restroom with a little surprise as well. He reached a grate in the ventilation system and hopped out through it, he walked down the hall and turned a corner, then promptly froze, in front of him was Torch, doing the potty dance and it was clear he couldn't hold it for much longer, Monkey Jack eyes widened in sheer horror as he realized his fate.<p>

Andros and Carlos froze when the unearthly scream of a monkey was heard throughout the entire base, "Oh that can't be anything good," Carlos muttered as they raced towards where the scream had come from. "Oh dear gods," Andros said in horror, both he and Carlos crossing themselves as they came upon the most unholy sight they had ever seen and that was saying something, there stood Monkey Jack covered in shit, and he meant that literally, Torch was groaning and continuing to preform the potty dance. By this point almost everyone on base had arrived and were staring in horror, "Hey," Ripper said, "Ain't that the monkey that Torch tried to roast at that bar," "Yeah," Monkeywrench agreed, "And Road Pig knocked his cup of drink over on the table." "This isn't good," Carlos whispered as he and Andros started to step away from Monkey Jack, Tommy joined them in stepping back, having recognized the monkey as well, he knew of what the monkey kept in his magic pocket. Monkey Jack was livid, producing his pistol he screamed in anger as he took aim, instantly everyone started to scatter, "Holy shit its armed and pissed," Buzzer screamed as Monkey Jack pulled the trigger, Torch fell to the ground, clutching himself, bleeding and the laxative was still in full effect. "Poor monkey," was all Tommy could say as he, Andros, and Carlos took off for greener pastures, Monkey Jack produced a detonator and pressed the button, instantly every restroom in the base exploded. Monkey Jack continued his reign of destruction as he sought vengeance for his humiliation, Tommy, Andros, and Carlos watched everything through their laptop, having hacked the security cameras, "That is one destructive little monkey," Tommy said mesmerized. He couldn't help it, it was like watching a train wreck, you just couldn't look away, Andros and Carlos nodded dumbly in agreement, like Tommy their eyes were glued to the screen of the laptop as they watched the carnage, as one they tilted their heads to the side and winced.

* * *

><p>"By all that is holy," Jaybird swore when Monkey Jack returned to the <em>Black<em> _Diamond_, covered in shit and smelling horribly, even by pirate standards, "Freeze monkey" she roared out, Monkey Jack froze, "You ain't fouling up my ship anymore than is possible." Barbossa was shocked speechless at the sight of his beloved pet, "Mark get some of them newspapers," Jaybird growled, "And someone get a tub full of water and soap for me, plus the strongest disinfectant we got, lord knows what he might catch if we don't use any." Instantly the crew nodded and followed orders, all the while giving Monkey Jack a wide berth, right now none of them were willing to touch him with a ten foot pole, at last Mark arrived with the newspaper. Jaybird placed them down on the deck and started making a little path to the washtub set on the deck nearby, Monkey Jack paced along the newspapers until he reached the washtub, upon which he hopped in with delight for the first time in his life. Jaybird put on a thin plastic bio-hazard suit, pulled on rubber gloves and went to work scrubbing Monkey Jack clean, his clothes were hooked on the end of a long stick by the crew and taken to be burned.

Jaybird had to change the water in the washtub three times before she was satisfied that Monkey Jack was half-way clean, then it took two more changes of water and then another wash with the disinfectant before Jaybird was satisfied that he was clean, however as she was rinsing him off for the final time there was an unwelcome development. Apparently the disinfectant made him lose all his hair and a naked monkey is not a pretty sight, "Oh," most of the crew groaned and looked away cringing, Monkey Jack shrilled sharply in horror as he looked at himself, having hopped out of the tub. "What did you do to my monkey," Barbossa demanded, staring in horror at his pet, "I think there was a side effect of using the disinfectant," Jaybird answered him carefully, trying to keep from laughing, "I just hope the hair loss isn't permanent." They looked behind them when they heard a small thump, that had been to much for Monkey Jack, he had fainted, "But perhaps we should contact Willa and Belle, to see if there is anything they can do to help," Jaybird offered.

* * *

><p>"Could you repeat that," Destro demanded, "Did you just say the base was destroyed by a monkey of all things," Tommy, Andros, and Carlos nodded, Cobra Commander, the Baroness, Mindbender, Major Bludd, Zartan, and Destro just stared at them in complete shock and disbelief. "We have proof," Carlos said defensively, handing them a disk, "Security recordings, we even can tell you the Dreadnoks are responsible for the poor little guys rampage," "Why are you sympathetic to the little monkey," the Baroness snapped. "Torch crapped on him sir," the answer burst out from Andros, instantly the high command of Cobra froze, "Literally or figuratively," Mindbender asked nervously, pretty sure he didn't want to know, "Literally," Tommy grimaced, "At least you didn't have to see it in real life, but the monkey shot off one of Torch's balls as recompense and the Dreadnoks, specifically Torch and Road Pig are why the little fellow came into base in the first place."<p>

"Oh really," Zartan raised his eyebrow, not all that surprised by this development, "Please explain," "Apparently Torch tried to flambé him when he saw the monkey in a bar and Road Pig knocked his drink out of his hands," Tommy explained, "He took exception for that and came looking for revenge, he slipped Torch and Road Pig some really strong laxatives, which backfired on him badly." "He also set explosives in every bathroom on base," Carlos coughed to keep from laughing, "Road Pig barely noticed the toilet exploding under him the laxative was so strong, we still haven't figured out how he got on base though." "I see," Cobra Commander said thoughtfully and took the security disk from them, "What are you going to do about this Commander," the Baroness asked, "There is only one thing I can do," he answered her.

* * *

><p>"Hey Hawk you won't believe what Cobra's done now," Breaker laughed as he flagged down Hawk, "Oh," Hawk asked, knowing by Breaker's laughter it wasn't a bad thing, "They've put a hundred thousand dollar bounty out on a monkey." "I'm sorry what," Hawk asked, sure he was hearing things, he could have swore that Breaker had told him Cobra had put a bounty on a monkey of all creatures, "See for yourself," Breaker handed him a couple papers. Hawk stared at the wanted poster, sure enough it was legit, Cobra had put a bounty on a monkey, "Says wanted for the destruction of a base," Hawk read, "Do you know which one," "Not yet sir," Breaker shook his head, "But I'm getting close." "Keep at it," Hawk told him, "Anything else to report," "Torch is on offical medical leave," Breaker grinned, "I'm trying to find out why, I think it might have something to do with the bounty Cobra placed on the monkey."<p>

* * *

><p>Willa looked at Jaybird, they were having a conference call through their mirrors, Belle blinked, "Why do you need a spell to make hair grow," she asked, "Because Monkey Jack is now completely hairless," Jaybird sighed, "And he refuses to come out from under the covers, not to mention it ain't a pretty sight to begin with." "Why did he lose his hair," Willa asked, pinching the bridge of her nose, "He lost it because he went after a couple Dreadnoks who had pissed him off, he came back covered in crap," Jaybird explained, "I washed him off and used a strong disinfectant and the disinfectant made his hair fall out." "I see," Belle said in a strangled voice, clearly trying to keep from laughing, "I think we can fix his little hair problem, come to the mansion and we'll start to work on it," "Not to mention Jack will demand to see what Monkey Jack looks like without hair for his own amusement," Willa said dryly.<p>

* * *

><p>"Let me see, let me see," Jack chanted as they walked into the captains cabin of the Diamond, you could see a lump under the covers that was clearly a monkey, Barbossa looked like he was going to throw Jack out if he kept this up. Willa rolled her eyes and reached over the covers, easily snagged Monkey Jack and yanking him out from under them, he dangled from her hand, screeching and yelling indignantly, while Jack had fallen down on the floor holding his ribs he was laughing so hard. Willa groaned, "I can try a couple things, I'll figure something out," she assured Barbossa and Jaybird, "It shouldn't be that hard, just give me a moment to think of the proper spell," "Thanks," Jaybird sighed, "Its no problem," Willa assured her, then kicked Jack in the ribs, "Stop laughing already," she snapped as he yelped in pain and surprise.<p> 


End file.
